Breaking Frost
by squeekness
Summary: The X-men depart to Twilight to take care of Jason Frost and find a little something extra there they did not expect. Part three of my Twilight series.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: The X-men depart to Twilight to take care of Jason Frost and find a little something extra there they did not expect. Part three of my Twilight series.

Notes: Sorry for making you guys wait so long, but like I said before, I am still struggling with the lifestyle change of being a full time worker now. My arthritis is also getting a bit worse. Sucks to be old..., lol.

For anyone who may be interested, I am now running a small message board called The House of Squeek with X-men related threads there. It's not the same one I had here, this one is not FF hosted. It's a little better because like a regular board, we can post pictures and links and all. The link to House of Squeek can be found in the notes on my profile page. It might be worth your while to check it out, I have a thread there on the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie. Page two of that thread includes links to the now hard to find bootleg Wolverine movie trailer that was aired at ComicCon. It has Gambit footage there, folks! Page three has a gif of the Gambit exclusive footage that was slowed down just a pace so you can really see his action well. You know you don't want to miss out on that!

Art for this book should be up at my home page the same time the chapters go up, if anyone is interested in looking at it.

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(One)

Jason Frost sat at his desk, bathed in the dim light of a small camping lantern. It was nighttime now here in Twilight and the town was quiet, asleep. Not that it was all that easy to tell time here, it was just that it "felt" darker in the evenings.

Jason liked it here at Twilight, it was quiet and peaceful, and he had done very well for himself financially. This was the third "pocket" world he had visited since acquiring his doorkey, and thus far, it had been the most profitable in resources. The Honey was making him more money than he could ever have dreamed of. He had used it to reinvest more here than anywhere else, building this small town and bringing over his forced laborers.

Being the boss here, he was the only one to have a private cabin all for himself. He was a man who enjoyed his privacy, as most schemers do. In his hands was a notebook where he jotted down his ideas for the future -- and he had plenty. Honey production was going well, so well that he needed more workers and more men to keep them in line. With his impressive profits, he figured that shouldn't be a problem. It wasn't just the money that made hiring his pet mercenaries so easy, it was the fact that he also had a good selection of young girls to keep them entertained. Frost like to present himself as a preacher, as a spreader of the Good Word, but even he knew it was far from the truth.

Growing up rich, a young Jason Frost learned about lies early. His mother was a materialistic bitch and his father a self righteous bore. His dad sold real estate and was a slick con man, a smooth talker who excelled at bilking millions from his clients. It was a genetic trait he passed on to his son.

Jason loved fine things -- growing up in a mansion with all of the amenities often did that to a kid. Still, his dad wanted him to earn his own way and was stingy with his gifts, or so Jason had felt. He had tried his own hand at making money but with little success until one day, out of boredom, he attended an anti-mutant rally near a local college. Here he learned one sad but awful truth – hate sells. Give it a sort of religious spin and it was that much stronger. There were several anti-mutant factions sponsoring the rally and Jason saw the money they collected, supposedly to support their push for the Mutant Registration Act to be passed, but more than likely, that money went into the pockets of the loudest, most impressive speaker.

Well, one thing that Frost was good at was public speaking. He quickly founded his own group and was soon outpreaching them all, discovering along the way that the more fire and brimstone he threw in his speeches, the more he got folks' attention. They were happy to give him their money in the hopes that he and he alone could stop the mutant menace, especially when it seemed like the government had no intention of doing it themselves. He was especially good at inspiring the rowdy to acts of violence – his faithful followers began mugging mutants when they could catch them alone. They burnt down the houses and businesses of known mutants and stole from them whatever they could in the hopes of driving them underground. Frost had learned some tricks from dear old dad including how to hide where the money was coming from. He was financing these misadventures without leaving a paper trail back to himself. He was in heaven. King for a day.

He loved the sense of power. The idea that he was influencing and creating history. It fueled his ambition and his imagination. If he could become powerful enough, heck, who was to say that the Presidency was that far out of his reach? If he couldn't have the Presidency, he'd settle for a President's ear, that could be fun. He was a very driven man.

Jason Frost soon captured the attention of more than just faithful, militant followers. SHIELD took note of his growing power and influence and sent in infiltrators and spies to check up on him, seeing how far he was willing to go. In spite of the violence he encouraged, Jason was never at the scene of any of the crimes. He was untouchable. Wanting to shut him down any way they could, they finally brought him in for tax evasion, the only thing they could prove.

SHIELD was careful to make sure that when they brought Frost in, they took him to one of their own detention facilities, something that ultimately turned out to be a mistake. As luck would have it, they had another fellow in the same detention block there, a man named Micky Tedorsky. This guy was scary dangerous and made Jason Frost look like an amateur. He, too, had a lot of followers, people more than ready to risk their lives for him.

While both men were awaiting trials that might never come, there was a breakout in the jail. Mickey had somehow managed to make contact with his people on the outside and they had come for him. Mickey favored Jason's cause and was aware that he was in the same prison as himself. He made sure to take Jason out with him when he left, along with a few other more militant anti-mutant haters also in custody. Mickey was a resourceful fellow, he had done more than successfully lead an outbreak, he had also managed to steal the doorkey on his way out, his plan all along.

Micky Tedorsky took Frost under his wing and freely taught him many things, including how to use the doorkey. There were pocket worlds, Mickey explained, worlds just ripe for exploitation. There were no police, now laws, no rules in these places. They could plunder these worlds and use that to finance their various anti-mutant plans here in the real world. The possibilities of what they could accomplish here were endless.

They worked together for a while, but Frost grew impatient with Micky's methods. The man knew how to get to these worlds as he had promised, but he was unsophisticated and too quick to just grab what was obviously valuable. Frost had wanted to explore more, build towns, and make safe havens of these locales. Micky couldn't be bothered. Frost saw money and potential being wasted. It wasn't long before he took matters into his own hands. He murdered Mickey -- making it look as though a mutant had done it of course -- and then took the doorkey for himself. Now at last, he had all the freedom he needed to further his own goals. He had been moving around ever since, taking his time and getting the most of each pocket world he had found.

Little Julie One hand might have disagreed, but of all the pocket worlds he had been to, Jason loved Twilight the best. It was wooded and cool, fresh and sweet. He hadn't had much trouble here -- a few prisoner escapes now and again, but no big deal. He had his men take care of that by setting tripwires and traps around for them. Since the prisoners had nowhere else to go, they would be caught eventually, one by one.

Jason was quite proud of all he had accomplished here and in his own twisted world, saw nothing wrong in what he was doing here. Kidnapping mutants? How was that a crime? Why they weren't even real people and besides, the world was much better off without them anyway. He was doing everyone a favor.

The men Frost used as guards were easy to find, all one had to do was flash a little money and offer them as much beer and as many girls they could stomach, mutant or otherwise. Men such as they were so predictable, Frost had learned. Especially those whose strived to prove they were the so tough when they really were not much more than maladjusted losers looking for cheap thrills. They were not so particular when it came to playtime. To keep them from questioning some of his baser tactics, especially with the kids, Frost told the men they were here in the service of God and that whatever crimes they might commit here would be forgiven. It was too important to remove the mutant menace, he claimed. And most of them believed. The ones that didn't, simply didn't care.

The prisoners here on the island were held in line from fear and Frost's thunderous preaching. He knew that when getting a point across it was all about the presentation and he had a taste for the theatrical. He was soon devising ways to make his preaching seem more credible to his captives, including the use of ritual baptisms under candlelight and chants. He wore colorful robes as he preached and made the kids wear the smocks with the crosses on the front to remind them of their place in this world. He used water and wine in rituals, candles and books, threats of damnation and music. These things had worked better than words alone and when some of the children responded, the sense of power made Frost giddy with delight.

It was true that despite being held in captivity, Frost had actually managed to win over a few of the kids over to his cause. In this area, Little Julie One hand had been his best student. The boy had come to him damaged and weak. Frost had made a man of him as best he could in spite of the boy's youth and turbulent back history. Sadly, even after all this time and special grooming, the boy was still afraid and swamped with guilt over his past. On the one hand it made him easier to control, on the other, it made him weak. If Little Julie One Hand could overcome his emotions, he could make an excellent bodyguard, even if he was a mutant.

Frost was a naturally distrustful guy. How could he not be with his own history of being a con man? But for some reason, he trusted Julie One Hand completely. There was no guile in the boy. The boy always followed orders and was in line with Frost's anti-mutant program, hook, line and sinker. Frost had such grand plans. If he could find more mutants like Julien who so hated themselves and their own kind, maybe he could build an army and exterminate the rest of the mutants in the world. He could be a hero. If the other mutants couldn't toe Frost's line, well they simply weren't worth keeping around. At the very least he would love to sterilize them all, make mutantkind disappear forever.

Not all the kids were in step with Frost's ideals of course. Captivity has a way of building resentments. The fact that Jason had some kids believing and others not created dissension in the ranks, just enough that no full scale mutiny was ever successfully launched. Frost had informants in his faithful that helped give him a head's up when needed.

Frost wasn't stupid. He knew that those kids that simply wouldn't be tamed had to be dealt with quickly and permanently. Frost never dealt them himself directly of course. He was lucky to have come across certain men, who for a fee, would gleefully make them disappear. The graveyard Logan had discovered here was seeing much use. It wasn't like there were any police here, or anyone who would miss these mutant throwaways back home.

He did try to give these kids as many chances to repent of course. Each one cost money to transport and to upkeep. It would be wasteful to simply smoke them at the first sign of trouble. Take this Grace girl for example. She had been here for some time now and was proving to be much too problematic. She wouldn't submit to the men and so he had little use for her. Her time was running out and Frost was making notes, she would have to be eliminated in the morning. He simply couldn't have such deadweight around. He had a business to run.

Of course, Jason, for all of his sense of being in control, had no clue Logan had even been there. The Bouncing Betty exploding was sold off as one of the escapees that remained on the island making a mistake. It wasn't the first time this had happened. With so much blood left behind, whoever it had been could not have survived even though an actual body had never been found. For all of Frost's wisdom, he did not know about the moths and the Honey combo being an alternate route between reality and the pocket worlds. Leroy, in his defense and wisdom, had made sure not to spill that particular secret.

Back in his private cabin here in his paradise, Frost's head snapped up in surprise when he heard an explosion outside. It wasn't here in town, but down the road a bit, towards the flower fields. It was an odd sound and very loud. The kids here were cowed easily by the sight of all the weapons the men here carried and usually bedded down for the night readily enough. He figured it was probably another escape attempt. They'd had so many, though why the kids bothered he couldn't fathom. It wasn't like they had anywhere to go.

What Frost didn't realize of course was that this was no escape attempt. No, his little reign of terror had ended. The X-men had arrived.

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Hours earlier, before Frost had ever heard the noise of their arrival, the X-men prepared to leave for Twilight. Logan walked down the hallway of one of the more classified areas of the Arizona Complex. This was a badge ranked facility and if you didn't have the right badge, you went no farther. Logan, being head of Security for most of this building, had free access to all levels including this one.

This level housed the Complex's jail facilities, but also one of the X-men's most prized possessions – the Danger Room. The Danger Room was a large chamber where they used complex holographic images for the purposes of training. Only the most senior staff were allowed to use it.

Logan had wanted to speak with Scott Summers, Charles' number two man when it came to missions. Scott's wife, Jean, had told him Scott was here. Logan often times enjoyed a quick workout the morning of a planned mission and so he thought Scott might be of the same mind, but when he entered the room, he was surprised to see Scott not engaged in battle, but standing in the middle of a facsimile golf course getting ready to tee off.

Scott Summers was a tall man, almost rigidly straight in posture as if he'd spent years in military training. He was getting on in years, forty was a year or two behind him now, but he was still in top form as were all the senior team members still in field work. He seemed normal enough for a mutant, the only giveaway was the strange visor he wore across his eyes. He was an energy producer as Remy was, but in a different form. He didn't charge cards, but he could shoot beams of energy from his eyes. A childhood brain injury had destroyed the on/off switch and so he was forced to wear the visor at all times lest he shoot someone by accident. He had lived with this difficulty for many years and had long made his peace with it. The fact that he wore the visor like one large eye had earned him the codename Cyclops.

Logan crossed his arms and suppressed a laugh at what he was looking at, not wanting to disturb Scott's shot. Logan had always thought golf was a sissy sport so this should not have come as any surprise. He and Scott were very different kinds of men.

Scott took his shot and shamed Logan by getting it on the green in one perfect stroke, showing years of practice. Scott bagged his driver and shouldered the bag, moving on. Without looking back, he asked, "Something I can do for you, Logan?"

Logan smiled and fell into step just behind the man. "Nope. Just wondering if you were ready for this. We're leaving in an hour."

Scott looked back at him with an ironic smile. "For saving lives and rescuing women and children? I'm always ready for it."

"Your team?"

"The Gold Team is yours, just as you requested," Scott replied, unable to keep a hint of disdain out of his voice. Usually it was Scott who did the asking around here and the mission planning, today's adventure was a bit unorthodox. He was above Logan in rank, such as it was here. Really, the only reason Logan was here now was to show that while this was Logan's deal, he was still acknowledging Scott's authority. He wasn't challenging the leadership.

Logan knew better than to try it. The Gold Team was the highest ranked squad in the Complex, it had the most experienced and qualified members for an assault like this. While militaristic in style, the X-men were not comprised of stone cold killers. Their weapons were compassion, integrity and honor, something most of the bad guys knew little about it. The Gold Team was top ranked because they had earned it, they were the most professional and the most reliable. They could go in and achieve their goal with little or no casualties on either side, Logan knew this. It was why he had asked for them, he wanted Frost and Little Julie One Hand taken alive for questioning. Fury's men could take care of the rest of Frost's crew.

The Gold Team was top notch and comprised of Xavier's best – Jean Grey, Scott's telekinetic and telepathic wife; Bobby Drake, codename Iceman; Ororo Munroe, codename Storm, who could control weather; and Kurt Wagner, a teleporter with the codename Nightcrawler. For added measure, some of Logan's security detail members had been tacked on – Max, winged and just as telekinetic as Jean; and Rogue, a flyer who with enhanced strength and invulnerability along with her "touch of death" mutation. Frost wouldn't stand a chance against them.

"Thanks," Logan said to Scott, not wanting to argue about rank here. "So I'll see you outside?"

Scott just smiled. "We'll be there."

Logan nodded and walked out, the politics over with. He was ex-military enough to know these things had to be done, but he was happy enough it was over with. It was time to get his own team packed up and ready. His first stop was the maximum security section where the jail was kept. It was time to pick up Kyle and Sabretooth.

Logan scanned his badge and entered, happy to see Max waiting for him at the watch desk. Max was something of a paradox, he was angelic in face with the feathered wings to match, but he was also a body builder and so had the physique of a pro footballer, something made him a bit fearsome looking instead of saintly or cute.

Logan grinned at him. "You ready for today?"

"Yes, sir!" Max was positively beaming. Being assigned to the Gold Team, even if it was just temporary, was an ego boost and a half. He could hardly contain himself.

"Well, I'm here for the boys. Jordie should be here in a couple minutes to relieve you at the desk. I want you topside with the Gold Team as soon as he comes."

"No problem, sir."

Logan nodded and just from habit checked the watch desk's sign in sheet. There were only three people here in the jail – Kyle, Sabretooth and Skye. Logan squinted as he saw that Skye had had a visitor earlier that morning.

"Warren came in again?" Logan asked, trying to keep his voice neutral.

"Yeah, but he only stayed for about ten minutes this time."

Logan grumbled to himself in irritation. Warren Worthington, codename Angel, had full authority to be here, he was in charge of running the entire Arizona Complex. That position even outranked Scott, though it didn't mean all that much. Warren was excluded from fieldwork, the one activity many X-men desired most because it carried the highest prestige. Years ago, Warren had lost his wings trying to save lives alongside the X-men during the Morlock Massacre. He had been outfitted with clever prosthetics, fake wings that Henry had designed using the same advanced Shi'ar technology that was used in the Danger Room. It allowed for some limited flight, but it kept him from doing actual missions and fieldwork. Being a skilled accountant and administrator, Warren still served the mutant community, just in a different form now.

What Logan didn't quite understand was why Warren would even care about Skye at all. Or at least he didn't want to let his mind wander too far in a direction it kept wanting to go – Skye had given two depowered mutants their powers back, but the cost had been so very high, so very high. It wasn't just the fact that Skye demeaned his clients, though that was bad enough. If they were under his power long enough, they could also experience secondary mutation like Kyle had. Kyle's bent legs and extended snout were gifts from Skye, he hadn't been like that the last time he and Logan had met. Secondary mutation wasn't always a good thing, it could sometimes backfire and cause serious damage to the recipient or make them dangerous to others. Because of this Logan had tried to keep Skye's ability to restore mutant powers a secret. The idea of Warren even considering submitting to Skye's sick and twisted mind in exchange for getting his wings back was more than Logan could stand. Nothing was worth what Skye would do to him. Nothing.

Logan was too busy for Warren right now, but he made a mental note of this. He would have to pay Warren a little visit. They were not friendly but Logan was in charge of the jail. He wasn't about to let anything happen to his prisoners – or allow them to harm anyone else.

Logan made his way down the short hallway of cells. He was about to knock on the wall outside of Kyle's cell, but the boy was already waiting for him. He had been given some new clothes for today's outing – a fresh white T-shirt and black pants in exchange for his bright orange coveralls. Logan hadn't wanted to make it too obvious to the others that he was using detainees for this. Even so Kyle looked a little rumpled and awkward. The pants weren't fitted to size and didn't quite suit his poor bent legs. As it was, he was standing hunched over with his arms hanging, like a blonde lion boy stuffed into human clothing.

"You look dashing," Logan teased, trying to set the boy at ease.

"Mrr!! Fuck...you!" Kyle replied, but his eyes were merry. They were still friends.

Logan laughed softly and scanned his badge, opening Kyle's cell. Kyle couldn't help but flinch a bit at the sound of it. It wasn't a sound he heard often. Logan ignored it, knowing it was better to save Kyle's face by not mentioning it. Kyle shuffled out into the hallway, his movements clumsy and strange. He wasn't going on all fours like he used to, but he still had difficulty walking upright for long distances.

"Wait here," Logan ordered and Kyle obeyed, staying put.

Logan moved down the hallway, stopping in front of the next cell. Sabretooth was there waiting just as Kyle had been, only he was right in the doorway leaning up against the slotted glass like he owned it, his arms up over his head, resting on his elbows, his face to Logan with a large toothy grin that was anything but pleasant. The big blonde man had fared well these past weeks in spite of being in captivity. He was still huge, large and well muscled, making good use of his limited access to the gym. He was dressed as Kyle was only these clothes fit him quite well, he was the perfect image of clawed mercenary for hire. Or in this case, a bodyguard for Siskans.

"Posing for Guns and Ammo?" Logan teased with less humor than he had with Kyle. He was already wondering if this was a mistake. He didn't like the predatory gleam in the man's eyes.

Sabretooth stepped back from the door so Logan could open it, giving off a rough growl that didn't even resemble the laugh it really was. He was relenting but not submitting to Logan's authority, it wasn't a sign of respect.

Logan opened the door, his eyes hard. "Out in the hall, Creed."

"Name's Kristalay. How many times I gotta say it?"

"At least once more," Logan growled back, showing a bit of fang as he asserted his authority and dominance. These men were all ferals, even Logan though he hadn't gone as far down the path as the others. They all understood ranking and like most pack animals, Logan had to be sure these two knew their place. They were not the ones in charge. "Out in the hall. Now."

Kristalay stepped out, obeying, but there was still defiance in his shoulders, in the way his claws weren't quite sheathed. Logan looked down the hall to the watch desk and was happy to see that Jordie had arrived to relieve Max as promised. Max was delaying there, disobeying Logan's orders to depart immediately. He had been on Logan's security team long enough to sense the rising tension and potential danger in the room now that the ferals were loose. For once Logan didn't care about the disobeyed order, he was happy that Max had lingered to watch his back, the boy was a powerful telekinetic and would be handy if Kristalay tried to pull anything.

At that moment -- though Logan wouldn't admit it if asked -- he had to at least respect Skye's empathic power. The Siskan had gotten both powerful men to submit to his every whim if the reports were true and Logan had no reason to doubt they were. They had been his obedient slaves in spite of the fact that even the slim boned Kyle could have slashed him to death in seconds if he'd ever had the desire. Their minds had been turned, their feral rages brought under control, something no one had ever been able to do before. Some of that empathy would have been good right about now -- Logan was already beginning to wonder if he was going to get these guys up to the Dragon 2 without anyone dying on the way.

As if in response to Logan's thoughts about him, Skye's voice came from further down the hall, silky smooth and seductive like a vampire calling out to its prey, or a child molester to an easy mark. "Them's my lions yer takin' without no askin'. Trifle rude, doncha thinks?"

Logan's face hardened at the sound of it, his heart filling with pure hatred. Of all the Siskans Logan disliked here, Skye was the worst of the bunch. Logan would love nothing more than to put the sick fuck down, but Xavier's rules of compassion and sanctity of life, no matter how repugnant, had held his hand. The best he had been able to do was place Skye on the Dangerous Sex Offenders list and detain him here without actually having any charges filed. The detention wasn't so much Logan passing his own moral code down on the Siskan, it was because of the fact that while both Kyle and Kristalay had gained some benefit to being exposed to Skye's powers, the slavery that had come with it hadn't been entirely consensual.

As it was, all the attempts lately to rehabilitate the guy were unsuccessful. Skye wasn't cooperating. He wasn't violent or anything, but he was belligerent and unrepentant. Asher was hoping for some progress when Skye finally got bored or lonely enough. Siskans were social creatures by nature and poor Skye was never permitted out of his cell not even for the gym. That was just fine with Logan. He didn't want anyone near that Siskan monster.

Logan couldn't hide the snarl in his voice as he called back, "They aren't yer lions anymore, freak. They never were. Isn't that right, boys?"

Kristalay just laughed, the sound holding no mercy. He had been the stronger of the pair and had used Skye as much as Skye had used him. He'd wanted his powers restored and they had been with little or no fuss. What was a little sexual slavery to him when he'd been able to walk away only a short time later even stronger than before? Especially when there was some playful turnabout in this – he was more than happy to see that Skye was now in a cell, trapped and powerless as he had once been. It was the sort of comeuppance Kristalay's cruel heart would find amusing.

Kyle took no such pleasure in any of this. He had been under Skye's sway for much longer and had felt his influence far more deeply. He missed Skye terribly in spite of the Siskan's unpredictable moods and cruelty, there had been a certain pleasure in being owned. It had meant that for once in his life, he had been desired and wanted, even if the circumstances had been horrific. He was quiet now as Logan moved them along, as they walked away from his former Master, but when they left the hallway for the exit, he couldn't help but hesitate and look back.

"You don't need him, boy," Logan growled, disgusted that Kyle would even consider going back to that former life back again. Logan did not submit well to any authority, never mind to a bully like Skye.

Kyle said nothing, knowing Logan would never understand. In Kyle's pathetic life, such as it had been, Skye was the closest thing he had ever known to real love. In between bouts of terrible physical cruelty, there had been moments with Skye that were filled with real human contact and gentleness combined with an intimacy Kyle had never shared with anyone else. Logan couldn't possibly understand the lure of such a thing, or perhaps he simply took his own blessings for granted. He had a wife, he had kids. These things Kyle had never had and probably never would. Logan couldn't quite grasp the idea that while Cody could give Kyle some comfort and company, that poor furry beast couldn't hold a torch to Skye's burning empathic love and rough passion. Just the thought of what he was missing filled Kyle with a profound loneliness and tanked his spirits.

"Keep moving," Logan ordered, tugging Kyle along. He might not be able to sympathize, but that didn't mean he couldn't see its effect. He needed Kyle on his game today. The sooner they left the better.

They left the jail, Max falling into step behind them without having to be asked. Logan had halfway expected Kristalay to make some kind of snarky comment about Skye at Kyle's expense, but the big man was oddly quiet, doing nothing more than what he'd been told. Logan didn't think it was sympathy, Kristalay wasn't capable of such things as far as Logan knew, but Logan wasn't about to comment on it.

The quartet made their way through the Complex and closer to the tarmac where the various teams were getting ready to depart. As Logan neared the stairwell that would take them up and finally outside, he was surprised to see Seth lingering there, obviously waiting for someone. Logan figured the soft spoken Siskan was waiting for Fallen, his Mistress, and so passed him by with just a nod in greeting.

He was surprised when Seth called out to him, "Mr. Logan?"

Logan kept walking up the stairs without looking back. He wanted to get Kyle and Kristalay squared away before they could cause any more trouble. He still did not entirely trust them. "Not now, Seth. I'm kinda busy."

Seth cleared his throat but did not follow. "Mr. Logan. Please."

Logan stopped where he was, sighed softly, and turned around. Seth leaned against the wall of the hallway below, having stepped aside to allow them to pass. His eyes were down, but he held a manilla folder in his hands, clearly something of importance. Seth was quiet, Seth was shy, Seth did not interrupt unless if was really necessary. Since he was the resident computer hacker and gatherer of secret intel, Logan was willing to indulge him now. Seth had proven himself too many times for him not to. "What's up, kid?"

Seth came forward, nervous because of the prisoners, but still unwilling to look the two men in the eye. Kristalay was a huge man and towered over the shy Siskan, smiling somewhat as if delighted by Seth's obvious fear of him. It was the most amusement he'd had in days after being cooped up all the time.

Seth tried not to show how rattled he was but held out the folder to Logan. "You need to read this. Now. Before you go."

Logan recognized the urgency in Seth's voice, even though the command had been modestly stated. He reached out for the folder and as Seth gave it, Kyle made a soft noise of surprise. Seth was a level one X-man and had earned the X-man uniform jacket he had on now, but as a Siskan, he never wore a shirt under it. The jacket had opened and Kyle was given an eyeful of Seth's big green Mark.

"Easy, Kyle," Logan growled as he began read what Seth had given him.

Kyle stood down, but there was an unmistakable hint of anger in his eyes. Skye had been his former Master and had used the Kundatesh empathy and magic to subdue him. Kyle had come to crave it like a drug. After coming here, Kyle had learned that Skye was not unique, Asher was just as powerful and had come to visit him in the jail. Here now was another Siskan that he had never met, one that could possibly provide this same magic as well, though he had a feeling this one was weak, less powerful that Skye and Asher had been. How many of these guys did the X-men have? He resented the idea that the magic was so available and yet kept from him. He wanted it.

"Max?" Logan asked, trying to keep his voice disinterested and neutral though he had an idea of what was going on.

"Yeah, boss?"

"Take the boys to the stop of the stairs and wait there fer me."

"Right," Max answered without hesitation and got the two prisoners moving, happy to head out to the fresh air. It was getting too confining in the stairwell with these dangerous men so close to him.

Logan could feel the relief himself when Max got Kyle and Kristalay out of there. This was going to be so tricky. They had better not screw up and make him look bad, that was for sure.

The file Seth had given him had been important indeed. It was a report Seth had "acquired" from the SHIELD database, telling a bizarre story of how Jason Frost had once been a "person of interest" for SHIELD and had been detained. He had somehow managed to escape, but not before he had taken an item of some importance from SHIELD. It wasn't explicitly stated, but Logan just knew it was the doorkey he had used to take him to Twilight.

Logan snorted in irritation. "Figures. I knew it was too good to be true that Fury would actually give a crap about mutants or Honey. He's no DEA agent. Homeland security takes precedence over everything else. It's Frost's doorkey he really wants. He wants it back."

"Simone will need to be protected, sir," Seth suggested, trying not to sound demanding. Logan outranked him by far. "He is as good as a doorkey himself."

"Don't you worry none about that," Logan assured, smiling at Seth to put him at ease. Though the Siskans here were not biological creatures, they had all come from the same clutch and regarded each other as kin. Seth's concerns for Simone were real. "That's what those two fellas I brought along are for. They might be a bit on the scary side, but they can take a few shots and give back as good as they get. I won't let anything happen to Simone."

Seth nodded his thanks and departed, letting Logan get back to work. It was going to be a busy day for them all.

..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..--

Moments earlier and a couple of levels down, Remy woke sluggishly and tapped the alarm off his clock before it could sound off and wake Molly who slept beside him. He wasn't and would never be the early riser Logan was, it just wasn't in his DNA. Of course, his late night could have had something to do with that.

Even half asleep, Remy couldn't help but smile happily at the dim but pleasant memory of how he had taken Molly out dancing last night. It had been an old ritual in the past that they would do this the night before a planned mission. There was always this unspoken tension between them, the understanding that he could go off to save the world and just simply not come home alive. There had been some relief from that tension while he had been on the disabled list, but now that he had been officially reinstated that tension had returned.

Remy rose, trying to do this carefully so as not to disturb his sleeping wife. He stood and stretched, feeling his bones shift and crack a little, a new development. He was growing older whether he wanted to admit it or not. He had laid out his uniform the night before and began to dress, pausing to rub the last sleepies out of his eyes.

Molly rolled over, restless from his movement in spite of his being careful, and watched him dress with half open eyes. He looked thin to her these days, he had lost some weight while on his layoff, but it was times like this when what she saw most were the light lines of all the scars he wore on his body. It was no simple fashion statement that his uniform had so much body armor on it. He had seen his share of rough fighting. Beyond the horrible mauling Sabretooth had given him years ago -- a terrible wounding that left five large silver slash marks across his chest -- there were a number of smaller less threatening scars on his legs, including a surgical scar from a significant fracture that had required a few screws to the bone. He had healed well, all of his scars were silver and had faded considerably in the time that she had known him, but it was still a clear sign that he had chosen a dangerous vocation.

She was proud of him, that he had chosen to serve mankind in this way. He still called himself a thief but he had committed no such crimes in a long time. No, he had risked life and limb going out into the world saving lives and trying to help people. She thought of him on the same terms as a policeman or a fireman.

Remy looked back at her as he pulled on his pants. "You should be sleepin', chere."

She moved a bit to free her hands and signed back at him, _**Come back to me.**_

He smiled at her. It wasn't a command to return to bed, it was a command to come back alive. "Dis ain't nuthin', what we doin' today," he tried to reassure her though he knew himself that things did not always go as planned. He simply didn't want her to worry. "Nuthin's gonna take me away from you. Dey prob'ly ain't goan let me do no more dan fly nohow and even if dey did let me go, time funny dere. One hour 'ere like a whole day dere. Gambit's gonna miss you longer dan you gonna miss 'im," he teased, leaning down to her to give her a deep loving kiss.

She took it but already the worrying was setting in. It was part of her job, being the one who looked after him.

Remy felt it, and offered a vibration of love in return. Molly was so beautiful to him in spite of her more feral attributes. In a strange twist of fate, he had married Sabretooth's daughter, a child the big man had thought he had killed. Sabretooth had succeeded in slashing her throat and stealing her voice, but she had been strong enough to have walked away from it. Molly was nothing like her old man. She was sweet and kind and the most forgiving woman he had ever met. She would have to be to be with him. Remy's dark past was always there, waiting to be dug up again at the worst of times. Molly knew all of his secrets, he hid nothing from her, something he had failed to do with Rogue.

Remy never thought he'd be able to pull off marriage, but so far it had been wonderful. Molly was a good match for him, they enjoyed so many similar things, including a deep love of family. Molly's family had been stolen from her by her murderous father and so she was all too eager to rebuild one with this wayward thief. They both knew that twins they had now would not be the last of their children. The more the merrier, especially with Kimble and Aiden so eager to help out. The two Siskans had babysat last night, happy to spend time with the twins themselves.

"I gotta go," Remy said, finally pulling away. "You just know ole One Eye's gonna have a rally speech before we leave. Can't miss dat."

_**I'll be here, waiting for you, **_she signed to him, letting him go.

"Don' 'ang round ere. Take de kids to de park, get some fresh air. I'll call you when it's done, don' you worry."

She nodded at him and settled back down under the covers, watching him as he finished dressing. He grabbed his coat and blew her another quick kiss before he left.

He was in a hurry but still took the time to look in on his precious babies. They were close to a year old now and inseparable. They shared a crib even now, snuggled close to one another. He touched them gently, not wanting to wake them. Even so, Sandy, his sweet little daughter, opened one eye and smiled at him. He felt a vibration come from her, simple but oh so pleasant. _**/ Love you, daddy. / **_

_**/ **__**Je t'aime, aussi, fille, **_he returned, his smile huge as his heart swelled with love for her.

He had an advantage over most dads, he could actually tell what his babies were thinking, or at least feeling anyhow. The vibrations had been stronger when they were in the womb and first born. They were fading some now as they grew older, as they became more their own persons. Still, some basic emotions were too powerful for him to not understand completely.

Henry had insisted on testing the twins to see if they were X-gene positive. The big blue doctor did not like surprises so a little advance warning was always helpful. In this case there was nothing to worry about, both twins were X-gene negative. The mild empathy Remy shared with his children came from himself, not from any special ability his offspring had inherited.

Remy left his precious babies behind and got moving. True to his nature he was already late. Punctuality, like getting up early, was never one of his strong points. He made it topside just in time to miss Cyclop's opening remarks. Scott scowled at him, not missing a beat in his speech, but this was nothing new.

Two groups of people were gathered here, each in front of their respective transports. It was still early morning and dark outside but the tarmac was well lit. Remy's flight crew stood in front of the Dragon 2 alongside Logan with his two prisoners. Behind them, a little space away, Rogue stood with Simone who was looking more than a little nervous here. It wasn't just the crowd of people, some of whom he did not know, it was the open space and outside air. He was still used to much smaller rooms. Asher stood alongside him, close by just for comfort.

Fallen and Seth stood proud in front of the Lucky Dragon, their own group alongside. The Gold Team was gathered beside them and Henry and Star as well. Earlier the doctor had loaded up Lucky with as many medical supplies as he thought he might need for this day's adventure. He hoped of course to need none of them but it never hurt to be too careful. Maylee was also there, happy to give a nurse's assist. Max had joined the Gold Team for the day and nothing could hide his smile at being so included.

Remy, not the least bit contrite for being late, made his way to the Dragon 2 and settled in next to Aiden who managed to look sleek and handsome in his new uniform while at the same time showing he was profoundly bored. He was dressed in crisp black jeans and an open black silk shirt under the nice new leather jacket of a level one X-man. He looked as handsome as always, it was just odd to see him in anything other than shorts.

"You are late," Aiden chided playfully with mock disdain as his Captain finally arrived, his arrogant half smile on his lips. "Disz a reg'lar 'abit wit you, eh? Bossz man zere not szo 'appy."

" 'E'll get over it. Dis I miss anyt'ing impo'tant?"

"Not 'less ya likes a bit of droll an' blather," Kimble answered merrily from Remy's other side. Kimble was positively beaming, his shine a brighter green than Remy had ever seen it. It was the uniform, Remy knew this. Kimble, too, had finally earned his jacket just as Seth had. It meant that he was accepted, that he belonged, and that meant so very much to this Siskan. He was dressed as Aiden was, just without the shirt. Like Seth, given the choice, he'd much rather do with out it.

Remy laughed softly at Kimble's joke and looked back fondly on his own reinstatement yesterday. He had tried to act surprised and all that with the Professor as Logan suggested and felt he had pulled it off. It was long past due as far as he had been concerned, but he didn't complain, he was much too grateful that it had come at all. Charles couldn't possibly know what that meant to him – or maybe, being psychic, he could – it was the final affirmation that he was really okay. The Game was over and was now a nightmare best forgotten. It was time to move on and get back to work.

He was thrilled to be out here today, especially since he had an idea he might get to do more than simply fly for this mission. Being a bit of an action junkie, he couldn't wait to get out there and do some field work for real. He had missed this with all his heart.

Cyclops, now that everyone was finally here, got to the core of his rally speech. He was saying to them with emphasis, "This might be a job like any other we've done, but don't forget who we are. We're the heroes. We're the good guys.

"We are here in the face of tyranny. Jason Frost might think it's perfectly okay to kidnap children and turn them into slaves. He might think it's okay to steal their opportunity to contribute to the next generation by sterilizing them. We don't. And we're going to show him that such behavior is not to be tolerated now or ever.

"These kids that we're going to rescue probably haven't seen much in the way of a kindly face in a while. They will be frightened and scared of us, so put on your best face. Be kind, be polite. Do it for them. They may want to join us someday so let's give them an example worth striving for. Do this with dignity, integrity and honor. Don't forget that SHIELD is watching, too. Let's show them who we are."

Scott next handed a stack of papers to Jean who began passing them out. He continued his speech. "These are mug shots of Jason Frost and an artist's sketch of Little Julie One Hand. It is imperative that these two not be allowed to escape. Both are wanted for questioning.

"The doorkey that Frost is using to move back and forth from here to Twilight must not be allowed to disappear. It needs to be taken by us or destroyed. We don't even trust SHIELD with it so neither should you. These two things are our mission priority, even above rescuing the children. Jason Frost cannot be allowed to escape and do this again.

"Like I said, we're heroes. We're a team but most of all, we're family. Watch out for each other and keep each other safe. Now, let's go show them how the good guys get it done. Dismissed."

There were nods and some clapping, and then the group broke up, heading towards their transports. Remy took a look at the papers Scott had handed out. As Scott had said, there were pictures of Frost and a sketch Little Julie One Hand, or as best of Julie as they could manage. There was no direct frontal face shot as Logan never got a close look at the boy. Also included were a couple of fairly detailed maps of the island depicting the town and where some of the boobie traps might be located. Classic Gold Team efficiency.

Remy wasn't worried. He knew that this really wouldn't be a big deal so long as Logan could keep SHIELD from getting too much in the way. Piece of cake.

Remy stuffed the pictures into his pocket and motioned to his crew. It was time to go.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's notes : I had the last week off on vacation and spent quite a bit of time writing and drawing what I thought was going to be the last pictures for this post. Well, a side effect of all that writing was that four chapters bloomed into six which means not all the art is done. I am hoping that since I take a week to post each chapter I'll get the last pictures done on time anyhow, but that may change depending on if I get stuck having to work overtime or not. Just giving you a head's up that there may be some minor delays ahead. Not like weeks or anything, but an extra day here or there perhaps.

Art for this book should be up at my home page the same time the chapters go up, if anyone is interested in looking at it.

..--..--..--..--.-..--..--..--..--

(Two)

Remy climbed aboard the Dragon 2 and took his seat. Kimble settled in beside him and they prepared to take off.

Their passengers came up behind them, finding their seats. Logan brought his two charges up first, wanting them as far away from the door as possible so they wouldn't make the others nervous. Remy looked back over his shoulder as Kristalay passed behind him, more than a little uneasy with the big man behind him and just out of sight. Remy didn't like this much – Kristalay wasn't the kind of guy you wanted where he couldn't be seen.

"Mornin', Cajun," Kristalay growled, gruff humor in his voice, as if this was nothing more than a simple joy ride. "A nice day for it, eh?"

Remy shivered, he couldn't help it. He'd had a front row seat to this man's worst crime – the wholesale slaughter of the Morlocks. Remy would never be able to look at the guy without seeing that over and over again in his mind. It was a painful reminder of his own guilt in the matter, the crime wouldn't have been committed without his help.

"Just settle in, Creed," Logan growled, just wanting this done. "There's a seat on the end."

"Oh, but zat one is mine," Aiden challenged mischievously with his usual dry humor. He had just come out of the lavatory, part of his routine start up checks was making sure everything was stowed away tight. He smiled at Kristalay, a knowing grin on his face.

Kristalay just looked right back at him, his own toothy smile spreading wide. "Heh, I remember you. Only yer Mark was Blue. Not that I was looking at yer front much."

"Oncze you been wit' me, you never forget," Aiden returned boastfully, his shine full of playful pride.

Logan just groaned inwardly and shoved Kristalay into a seat. Here he had thought Kimble was going to be the problem with Kristalay on board but it looked like it just might be Aiden instead. This was why he hated the Siskans, it was their stupid free sexuality that led to nothing but trouble.

Logan had forgotten about it, but yeah, these two knew each other well enough. Aiden had spent one day – one day!– at work in Logan's Security wing, mopping the floors. The plan was to keep Aiden out of trouble but that idea had died a quick death. Aiden, bored, had shifted into his girl skin and while no one was looking had shared a quickie with Kristalay as though the man had never murdered hundreds of innocent people. Of course Aiden had done it as a "screw you" gesture in the face of Logan's authority. The incident had taken place just before the Game had played out, before Aiden's Mark had changed, and before he and Kimble had married.

Remy, overhearing that, glanced at Kimble, checking his shine for signs of jealousy. There were none. Kimble had smiled just briefly with real humor at Aiden's boast, but that was all. It meant something to Remy – Kimble had known what Aiden had done. He and Aiden had no secrets and that was a good thing.

"You mighta been good, but yer no Kimble," Kristalay tossed back in response to Aiden's playful arrogance, just for fun. He had noted how Kimble hadn't even acknowledged his presence though the Siskan had to have known he was there. He wanted Kimble's attention and was more than happy to get it at Aiden's expense.

"That's enough!" Logan complained, not wanting to do this. All this stupid soap opera crap. There was so much of it he could probably write a book on it – "The Amazing Exploits of Who Slept with Whom". Yay, team. He glared at Aiden and looking for anything he could pick on, barked, "Button up that shirt, kid. It's an X-man uniform and we're on a mission for Pete's sake. Try to show some respect."

Aiden laughed softly and went back to work, leaving his shirt as it was.

"Hey, Kristalay," Kimble finally greeted to break the tension, a laugh in his voice as he said it. It was Logan's discomfort that Kimble was finding funny. The two hadn't always gotten along so anything that made Logan squirm was fine by him. He wasn't displeased to see his former Master, he had just been trying to keep cool. Gambit had been firm with him on this earlier this morning, he wasn't to say anything or make a scene. Funny how Aiden had beaten him to it, but then the Dreamer was always eager to play around and flirt.

"Guys," Remy complained, just a little sharp, getting his crew back in order. This was their first trip out as official X-men and he didn't want it to get screwed up. "Aiden, yo' shirt, s'il vous plait."

"Aye," both Kimble and Aiden replied in perfect unison and with the proper contrition. They respected Remy's authority here on the ship and it showed. Aiden sat in his seat and fixed his shirt, but only because Remy had ordered it.

Logan didn't miss the slight, but didn't have time for it. He went back to the seating arrangements. He was trying to get Kyle settled in on his other side, but all Kyle wanted to do was sit on the floor as though he wasn't human enough for a chair. As it was, he had come up here hunched over on his hands and feet like a big yellow dog, the walk too far for him to make the entire distance upright. "Come on, Kyle. Fuckin' sit already!"

"Mrr!!" Kyle complained grumpily and collapsed in a dejected heap at Logan's feet, unwilling. He was still sad and upset over Skye and wasn't the least bit interested in sitting in a seat. He wanted to be left alone.

"Jus' leave 'im dere," Remy offered, just trying to make peace. "De Dragon only sit six. Someone's gonna be on de flo' nohow. Might as well be him."

Logan grunted his relent and sat, using his legs to shove Kyle in front of him, grabbing the back of Kyle's T-shirt as a makeshift leash, and kept him in place. Logan was pissed off, this was beyond ridiculous, his charges were grown men acting like little kids.

Kristalay just laughed again, he was stretched back in his seat with his long legs out front of him and crossed at the ankles. He thought the entire thing was hilarious.

"This where the party's at?"

Logan turned to see that Rogue had come up next, Simone in tow behind her. Logan had his charges and she had hers. He patted the empty seat next to him. "Have a seat, darlin'."

Rogue settled in next to him and Simone followed suit, taking the seat next to hers. Anyone who saw them together for even just a few minutes could see how taken Simone was with his Mistress. He had boarded standing very close to her, one hand grasping hers tightly as he was moved along. He needed that small comfort, he was still nervous and antsy, though he was trying to be cool about it.

The seat was uncomfortable with his wings behind him but he tried to do as he should, squirming around as he vainly sought an easier position in a chair not made for a man with wings on his back. He had brought along a small pack of supplies Rogue thought he might need – a bottle of water, snacks, light sticks, and some matches. He took off the pack and lay it at his feet, no more comfortable with it gone. He was nervous and unsure about all these strange people, the strange lion guy on the floor in particular. Just as with Seth, Kyle was blatantly staring at him, his shine a ragged mess. Simone was like the other Siskans here, his large White Mark on display for Kyle to see and Kyle hadn't missed it.

Simone fidgeted some more and Remy couldn't help but smile as he saw Rogue slip him a small silver object -- a Hershey's kiss. Remy had instructed her that chocolate was a treat all Siskans enjoyed and Rogue had learned all her lessons well. Simone settled down at once, eating his treat and doing his best to ignore Kyle.

Logan was happier with more people on board now to break the tension. He settled back in his own seat but froze momentarily in surprise when he caught sight of a good sized hickey on Rogue's neck. That was something new -- with the few boyfriends she had managed to acquire in the past, Simone was the only one capable of such full skin to skin contact without coming to harm. Rogue saw him looking at her neck and she blushed a little, dropping her eyes.

There was some heavy clomping as Asher came up next, his hooved feet loud on the metallic floor of the craft. Asher was no fighter, he was coming along on this mission for compassion and comfort reasons only. He was here for Simone should the guy need calming down. He would also be on hand to help out with any of the kids that would coming back with them when the mission was over. They might need a kind voice and a calming influence, things Asher had in abundance.

Asher had a formal name – Asher du Shemanatay, the Great Serenity. It was not a misnomer, even now he brought with him an air of peace and calm, as if he was bathed in a halo of holiness that spread from his body like a sweet smelling perfume.

Remy had felt this before. He had once watched as Asher had used his powerful empathy to calm a group of over four thousand people. Asher had done it to try and keep the Game from happening, but sadly he hadn't been successful. It had still been quite a sight, a single empath mesmerizing such a large crowd of aggressive people, even if it had only been for just a few minutes. In spite of that failure, Remy had no doubt Asher would be able to handle whatever small group of children they brought home.

Asher had his leather bag along with him and Remy could just see the purple tip of Smee's nose peeking out from under the flap. The Mumbler was along for the ride as well.

Remy had counted Asher as the sixth passenger, but there was no way this four legged Siskan was going to need a seat. He greeted everyone with a nod and settled in near the door. It was expected that such a small craft might have extra passengers so Seth had thoughtfully placed some hanging safety straps from the ceiling, similar to what one might find on a subway train or a bus. Asher took one in hand, having flown before, and was ready to go.

"Buckle up, people," Remy ordered to the group and they got down to business. "We off in five."

Rogue watched Remy as he expertly got the ship in gear and they took off. Like Logan before, this was her first flight out with him and she couldn't help but be impressed with his skill. She had figured that he had taken the pilot's job because it was all he could get at the time. She hadn't counted on him actually being good at it. He was so good in the field, she couldn't have imagined him doing anything else until now.

Simone wasn't so happy about it. He was already getting jealous even though he had been in Remy's company only a few minutes. He might have been closer to the thief, maybe even been friends, if not for her. Her shine always changed when she was around Remy and he didn't like it. He wasn't too crazy about being flown either. The ship was smooth, but still vibrated like an expensive limousine. You still knew you were being moved. He couldn't help but growl softly in agitation. He was being overloaded.

Logan shifted in his seat, hearing it. The last thing he needed was for Simone to flip out with so many ferals in here already. He didn't want a brawl before they even got to their destination. He wasn't sure what to do about it, but Aiden did. He stood up, grabbing a ceiling safety strap just as Asher had, and spoke to Simone directly in Siskan, "**_Szimone, my bro'der? You remember disz, eh?"_**

Simone looked up, startled as Aiden began to sing:

_**Sing a song of joy**_

_**Sing a song of love**_

_**Of being with the one I hold dear.**_

_**No one better for me than you.**_

_**Perfection from above,**_

_**A love so precious and near.**_

Logan, not much for campfire songs, rolled his eyes, but said nothing as Asher and Kimble both joined in at the same point. It was a telling reminder that they were all from the same clutch and shared many of the same memory files. It was no accident that Aiden had chosen this song in particular. He had known it had been bundled with the pleasure files Quishnalay had given them all. He wanted Simone to know he belonged, that he was one of them even though he hadn't spent much time with his kin. He knew Simone would know this song and smiled when he was rewarded by the sound of Simone joining in next, tentatively at first, but bolder as he saw Aiden's bright smile at his willingness to participate.

**_I sing a song of you beside me,_**

**_peaceful and warm._**

**_Your scent, like flowers just blooming,_**

**_Brushes over my skin._**

**_Your heartbeat in my ears like music,_**

**_Your eyes full of the moon and stars,_**

**_Your breath like fresh air blowing in through the windows of my heart,_**

**_I know no greater peace._**

**_No better heaven than this._**

**_Stay with me tonight,_**

**_Stay with me forever,_**

**_Your joyful prisoner for all time._**

Two more lines in and Remy found himself singing along as well, a bit surprised that he knew the words to this himself. It was a strange thing, memory. He hadn't been born Siskan, but he had captured many of Kimble's files in the lifesaving transfer they had shared, and not just a working knowledge of the Siskan language it seemed. His recall of this song wasn't sharp, it was more like he was being reminded of a song he had once known well but hadn't heard in a long time.

Even poor Kyle, who had been so sad and low as he had boarded the ship, seemed to feel better now. He didn't know the words or what was being said, but the harmonies from all these perfect voices soothed his jangled nerves. He settled down completely, much to Logan's relief, something the man couldn't begrudge these Siskans, even though it wasn't his favorite travel diversion.

The tensions vanished in the Dragon 2's small cabin and the flight out was brief and peaceful. A good thing, they had a big job ahead of them.

..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..--

They flew to the rendevous point across from Frost's warehouse. This site had been chosen because one) it allowed them to raid Frost's warehouse after the assault, and two) it was near to where Logan had showed up after his little Honey trip. If anyone was forced to use the Honey as a means of return, there would be someone ready there to pick them up. This location had its own large building and expansive parking lot. It was early still, the sun only just beginning to rise. All of the activity here would not be so easily noticed.

Remy had Kimble park the Dragon 2 alongside Fallen's own Lucky Dragon behind the building and opened the hatch. Fresh morning air streamed in from outside, salty and sweet. They could already hear Cyclops' group disembarking and gathering outside, but Logan made this group wait a moment longer before leaving.

Logan had brought along some Dognan bracelet cloaking devices that Fallen had made. This was for Simone's protection, but also for Kyle and Kristalay. Fury knew these guys were still in the hands of the X-men, but he'd neglected to challenge their right to possess them, something that might or might not be an accident. Either way, Logan didn't want to remind Fury that these dangerous men might be in the wrong hands. Logan wasn't going to let them go, not without a fight. While he agreed that these guys needed strict supervision, he knew SHIELD would probably try to mindwipe them again and use them to kill. Logan wasn't about to sit still for it, not if he could help it.

"Put these on," he said, handing them out to everyone. He looked at Kyle and Kristalay. "You two keep quiet and do as yer told. These'll keep you from bein' seen but they can still hear you, understand?"

"Right," Kristalay answered, snapping the bracelet on. He wasn't too keen on taking orders from Logan and it showed, but for now he was willing to play along.

Kyle fumbled with the device, his clawed hands were not dexterous enough for this. Logan gave him an assist, doing his best not to be impatient with his limited helper. "Whatever you do, don't lose this or get it shot off, okay? They'll be able to see you."

"Mrr!!" Kyle growled in agreement, nodding his head.

Rogue was beside them, helping Simone with his. "Don't be scared, Sugah. These guys will watch over you jus' fine," she said as she did this.

"Wish you wuz stayin' with me," Simone complained, keeping his voice down low. He didn't want to be disrespectful to the men guarding him.

"Ah gotta go where Ah can do the most good. Ah won't be far," Rogue promised and then brushed his lips with her own.

Simone, greedy for it, pulled her right up close and deepened the kiss, not caring in the least that they were on public display. It was a searing thing, the true Courtesan in him coming out for all to see. Orange Morrowhiem glitter sparkled from his hands, making her shiver. This sensual display of affection was so different than Simone's usual shy and restrained self that it was hard not to just stare at it.

"Wow," Kristalay growled, a rough laugh in his voice. He purposely spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear. "I'm gettin' hard just watchin' that."

Simone's response was immediate -- he broke off the kiss and snarled loud and fearlessly at Kristalay, showing more than a bit of fang, spreading his wings and making himself look larger than he actually was. His Mistress was his and his alone. It didn't matter that Kristalay could probably tear him to ribbons in a matter of seconds, he wasn't going to let a remark like that pass.

"Come on!" Logan complained and grabbed Rogue's arm, pulling them apart. He couldn't believe she was this stupid, there were too many bad men here, too many ferals on the ragged edge of civility. It wouldn't take much to excite them. It was just as well she was going with the Gold Team, she would have been too much of a distraction for Simone on the Island. He shoved her towards the open hatch. "Enough of this bullshit. Get moving, Cyke is waitin'!"

"Bye!" she said to Simone, not the least bit contrite. That kiss had been so sweet and so worth it. Her smile was huge as she left the ship.

Simone was still ruffled, his eyes mean and hard as he continued to challenge Kristalay for his remark. Asher came from behind him and put his hands on Simone's shoulders. "Easy, kitten. Sees his shine? It wuzn't said fer nuthin' but ta git ya all riled up. Worked good, didn't it? Now, lets it go."

Simone saw Asher was right and backed down, but there was no submission. He wouldn't hesitate to take Kristalay on, no matter what the outcome.

Logan glared at them all, sick of this. "Yer all actin' like a bunch of fuckin' kindergarteners, I swear. This is serious what we're doin' here today, people could die. This registerin' with any of you?"

"Right, boss," Remy replied for himself and his crew. At least this time his boys had behaved -- neither one had added to the tension, but had taken up defensive positions without having to be told. They would have backed up Simone if this had escalated.

"Remy, why don't you and yer boys take Creed and Kyle outside?" Logan ordered, needing to break the tension here. Remy clicked his tongue the Siskans fell into step beside him, escorting the two ferals down the ramp.

Logan had wanted more than peace, he had a final order to give Simone in private. Logan grabbed his shoulder gently and leaned in close to whisper, "You make yer door and The Gold Team goes through first. Soon as they pass, you close the door behind 'em, understand? We need some time alone on the Island to have any chance of catching Frost first. We catch Frost and yer Leroy will be safe. Soon as SHIELD gets done mopping up the place, we'll go get Leroy. I promise."

Simone nodded, smiling just a little. He liked that idea very much. "I understands."

"Shut the door, then we'll wait twenty minutes for the Gold Team to work. That'll only be ten minutes or so back home. Fury won't know what's going on, but he can handle that. No more time than that or he'll know something's up, all right? Then you open the door again."

"I gotcha."

"Good, now lets go."

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Remy stood outside the Dragon with Logan's ferals, waiting on Logan and doing his best to act casually. It was hard to do knowing the two men were cloaked beside him. He couldn't help but keep looking back over his shoulder, he didn't like the ragged edge to Kyle's shine. Ferals were so unpredictable when agitated. He was glad that Asher, Kimble and Aiden were still beside him, they would be there to assist if things got out of hand.

Remy had his own bracelet activated but not cloaking himself -- not because he wasn't going along to Twilight as far as he knew, but because it allowed him to see his charges while Fury could not. Just the same, he couldn't help but stand as though he was hiding something, his back tall and straight, nervous.

That tension only grew worse as he saw Cyclops come striding over, the leader of the Gold Team looking as cool and collected as ever. "Remy," Scott greeted.

"Cyclops," Remy returned, wondering what he was up to. They were not exactly the best of friends. It was probably too much to ask for that he would be invited along.

"Logan ready to go?"

"Oui, 'e jus' got a last minute t'ing to do. He be down in a minute."

Scott nodded and started to walk away.

Remy's anger spiked. He wasn't going to be asked to come along after all. Well, it wasn't like him to just stand aside quietly, so he called out, "You sure you can't use me, patron? I been reinstated."

Scott turned and looked back at him, really looking him up and down. "Are you fit? We might see fighting."

Gambit was instantly offended. Why would Scott even have to ask such a thing? He'd been officially reinstated by the Professor himself who did not make such decisions lightly. He'd spent hours and hours in the gym these past weeks, hours that surely hadn't gone unnoticed. "I'm ready for anyt'ing dat fool Frost can dish out,"Remy asserted, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. He had to be smooth about this.

Cyclops considered his answer. It was true he could use the extra pair of hands. His only concern was that if things got ugly out there and Remy wigged out under some kind of empathic overload like he had after the Game, none of his own people could be spared to babysit him. He really thought about refusing the guy, but then he caught sight of Kimble and Aiden loitering behind the thief.

"All right you can come." Remy's smile was huge, but Cyclops held up a finger. "But only if Kimble and Aiden tag along, too."

Aiden just smiled, but Kimble startled at that, looking genuinely shocked and even a little scared. He hadn't expected this at all. "Me? I didn't knows I wuz goin' anywhere's today."

"I want you covering Gambit's back. If he flips out I can't spare any of my guys."

Remy just glared at the man, his earlier joy fizzling away as he was insulted beyond belief. He'd thought Scott had been unsure about his physical abilities after so long an absence from fieldwork. To have his mental state questioned was just too much. He should have known that all this had been too good to ask for. It was beyond ridiculous as far as Remy was concerned and he was happy to let Scott know it. "I don't need it, patron. I been a senior X-man fo' a long time now, I ain't no junior man fresh outta trainin'. Yeah, I been down a few weeks but look at me? I'm fine."

Cyclops didn't back down an inch. "This is your first field mission since your reinstatement. You want to come along? They go, too."

"Well, as long as we're slicin' the pie, I'm gonna have a say," Logan said, coming down the ramp with Simone behind him. They had concluded their business and it was time to get this show on the road. "Kim can go with you guys, but Aiden comes with me. I could use the extra help with Simone. Besides, Kimble will be good enough for Remy on his own."

"Fine by me," Scott said, thinking things were settled.

Remy didn't budge. Yeah, he wanted to go, but why was Kimble going? Aiden could fight and Remy knew he would be happy to go along, but Kimble wasn't up to it. There were some real concerns here – Kimble was barely trained and had his own emotional issues. It was better to leave him behind.

Besides that, these two were taking over his flight crew, taking what they wanted as if standing over a buffet table. What the hell? He wanted so badly to bitch, but he had to be careful. If he made too much of a fuss, he wouldn't be going anywhere. He had to show them he was in control of his temper. He bit his tongue, trying not to justify Scott's concerns about his mental state. It was just as well that Scott couldn't read the shines, if he had Remy wouldn't be going anywhere. He was furious.

Scott just smiled at him, seeing the indecision and the well controlled anger. It gave him hope. "Like I said, if anything happens to you I know Kimble's got watch. Or Zander will anyhow. I can't spare any of my people to bail you out."

Remy eyes opened wide in shock at the man's blatant stupidity. Remy had made it very clear to everyone that Zander, Kimble's most savage personality, was best kept asleep. Yeah, Zander could fight and he was more than capable of watching Remy's back, but he was also a cold hearted killer. He didn't take orders well and was difficult to control once unleashed. He was much too unpredictable. Remy held up a finger in protest. "Espere –!"

"I already know what you're going to say," Cyclops interrupted with none of the patience the thief was asking for. His voice was a little condescending as he said, "You think I never listen to you but it isn't true. You're going to tell me that it's not safe. That Zander has no business even being called out. Well, too bad. The fact is Zander can handle the field - yeah, I saw how well he did against Jael's troops – and we need everyone we have. We get lucky enough and you won't even need Zander at all, but if anything happens to you, I know he'll keep you safe."

"Zander was fine in the field, he was right by my side just about the whole time with Jael," Logan offered, being truthful. Fact was, he saw a lot of himself in Zander. He admired the Punisher's toughness. "But if the kid here has a problem with it, I could give a shit less. I'm still takin' Aiden. Simone could use the company." Logan had seen Aiden's willingness to keep Simone calm and now that it came down to it, it might just be a big help.

"T'anks," Aiden replied, pleased that Logan had been willing to take him along. He was happy to have his talents recognized, but it was also true that he wanted more than just a level one X-man position. He hadn't said so to Remy, but it had been on his mind ever since he and Kimble had been upped in rank. He wanted a little more if he could have it.

Logan just nodded at him and the others. "You kids decide what yer gonna do. You want me, I'm gonna go talk to Fury over there." With that Logan walked off, heading in Fury's direction.

Remy stood as he was, bristling with anger. He wasn't the least bit pleased to be on the spot like this. He had to make a decision.

"I'll do it," Kimble said to that, stepping up though he was clearly uneasy about it. Kimble, the Lover and the peacemaker, was still at the helm, and he didn't want them to fight over anything that had to do with him. He knew Remy wanted to go along so badly. Kimble was Siskan, built with in ingrained desire to please. He didn't want to be the reason Remy was held back. "It ain't no big deal."

"It a big deal to me," Remy protested, not the least bit mollified by the compliment tossed Zander's way. He glared at Scott. "It's risky givin' Zander any kind of chance to come out and stay in charge. You know 'ow 'ard we 'ad to work on dis."

"Then decide, Remy, or stay behind. If you're coming you'd better get moving. We're leaving in five minutes," Scott said and walked away, heading back to where the Gold Team was waiting.

"Zero pressure, eh?" Aiden teased, not exactly kidding around. He of course had no fear from Zander. If anything happened he felt he could talk Zander down enough to let Kimble back out. Plus Asher was here. Nothing to worry about.

Asher looked at the Remy, seeing that he was torn between risking Kimble or taking what he wanted. "It's risky bringin' Zander out," he offered, "But if Kim sez it's okay then it's okay. It'll be taken care of if Zander won't backs off after."

Remy wasn't the least bit convinced by their arguments, but he wanted to go so badly he could almost taste it. He had wanted it more than anything, but he was insulted that he was being treated like a level one X-man who needed a babysitter. Just because he had only just been reinstated didn't give Cyclops the right to push him around like this. It was humiliating, but to be left behind now with the offer left on the table would be an agony. His decision made, he said to Kimble, "Stay close by me. I won' let nuthin' 'appen to you."

"Aye, Cap'n," Kimble said without hesitation. He was nervous but he would do this. He would keep Remy safe, even though the thief was acting as though the situation was the other way around. Gambit was still his Master in a way and he would obey.

Remy nodded and walked off, heading in Scott's direction. Kimble was quick to fall into step behind him but was halted momentarily as Aiden brushed his hand through his own. Kimble looked back at him, his eyes dark and serious, scared.

**_/ It will be all right,_ **Aiden vibrated, letting his empathy speak for him. He would have loved nothing more than to give Kimble as deep a loving kiss as Simone had given to his Mistress, but it could never happen. Kimble would never allow such a public display of their affection, married or not. Aiden was forced to put as much emotion into a single, fleeting vibration as he could. Kimble was already walking away again, obeying Remy's orders. _/ **Love you, keep szafe. /**_

**_/ I loves ya, too. I'll do m' best not ta lets ya down,_ **Kimble replied and then he was gone.

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Logan left Remy and the others behind, heading towards the SHIELD trucks. Nicholas Fury and his SHIELD crew of top recruits had arrived in two long semi trailer trucks, keeping quiet until it was time to go. They didn't want to give themselves away by standing around in a crowd. Fury, dressed in black and ready for battle, stood outside of one of the trucks, waiting on Logan to say what would happen next.

Logan approached him. "Nick. You ready for this?"

Fury looked dubious. He had gathered his men as Logan had odered and there was some trust with the man, but not everything had been explained. He didn't like embarking on missions when so much information about how it was going to go had been withheld. He felt unprepared, so many things could go wrong. "You're going to have to tell me how the hell this is going to work. We have no doorkey and I doubt Frost is going to let us borrow his no matter how nicely we ask."

Logan just smiled. He had told Fury nothing about Simone. He was waiting until the last minute to keep Fury from snooping around, but now it was time to get to business. "We don't need Frost's doorkey. We have one of our own."

"How's that?"

"Chuck's pretty resourceful. We found a guy who can open the same doors with his mind. Take it or leave it." It wasn't the whole truth, but it would have to do.

Fury snorted in disbelief. "I want to see this guy."

"No." Logan was absolutely firm on this. "You aren't going anywhere near him. You want Frost? This is how it will be done. You don't like it, we can all pack up right now. Well, you can, anyhow. We're going in no matter what. I'm not leaving Grace and the other kids there for another minute."

Logan knew his threat was a good one. There was no way Fury would just sit back and let the X-men go in by themselves. There was too much about Twilight Fury wanted to know. Too much territory there he could claim for himself and his government.

Fury was pissed, and not just because he hadn't liked Logan's threat. "How long have you known about this guy who can open those doors? This is a matter of National Security!"

"Really? We've had omega mutants on our team fer years," Logan countered, not really answering Fury's question. He wasn't about to give away anything about Simone Fury could pick up on and use. Omegas were powerful mutants capable of overthrowing countries if they wanted to or even capable of destroying the entire planet. By law, Fury could not take these people into custody – if he was even capable of it — unless they had committed a crime. A person like Simone who could open portals to other worlds, some of them potentially hazardous, could be considered a threat the same way an omega would be. "This isn't much different than that."

"This is very different! It's bad enough that we have to deal with super powered people from our own world. We can't have them coming here from somewhere else as well. What's stopping him from opening a door to a more dangerous place or letting something loose from there to here? The doors have to stay closed. I demand that you turn this guy over to me!"

Logan crossed his arms with an arrogant grin. "No way, pal. You wanted a solution to Frost? I found one. You don't like it? Too bad. You aren't going anywhere near my guy."

Fury stared him down with his one good eye but saw he wasn't going to get anywhere. That was all right, yes it was. Because Fury was a determined man. He'd let Logan have his way for now and get this mission done, but he'd get a hold of Logan's man, one way or the other, no matter how long it took.

"Whatever. But this isn't over."

"It never is," Logan answered ironically and got moving. "We'll make the door just over there. You won't see it until you pass through, but you'll see the team disappear. Don't be afraid, my guy can make the door at will. He'll be cloaked, but the door will be there."

Fury just grunted, still wondering if this was some kind of scam. Logan waved at Aiden and the Siskan came, Simone and the ferals behind him. The group came close and stopped at Logan's next command. "That's close enough. Make the door there."

Simone nodded, invisible to the SHIELD contingent, but not to Logan. He conjured up his door and it swung open invitingly. Without having to be reminded, Simone obeyed Logan's earlier order and he and his feral bodyguards passed through unseen and waited there on the other side.

Nick Fury did not actually see the door Simone had made, but he sensed it was there just the same and made a soft noise of surprise. There was the sudden burst of sweet smelling air and yes, the prerequisite brown moth that bumbled into view from thin air. Like Remy had before, he caught it easily in one hand and brought it to his face, smelling it through his cupped fingers. He nodded at Logan. "Okay, I'm listening."

"That ain't nothing," Logan said and reached out to touch both the door and Fury's shoulder. Fury staggered back in real surprise this time when he saw not only the door, but also the flower field beyond. This was really happening, Twilight was a real place and they were really going there. At least now he knew he hadn't gotten all dressed up for nothing.

"Don't worry," Logan said, "We can see through to them, but they won't be able to see us until we pass all the way through the door. My doorman and the Gold Team will go through first. Like I said in my report, this place is boobie trapped all over. If there are any surprises right out of the gate, we'll be best to deal with them first.

"After that you guys can follow right behind us. This door opens out onto the flower field. The town where Frost will be located isn't far away from that."

"Fine," Fury answered, eager to get started now that he could see where he was going. "Let's do this."

Logan signaled to Cyclops and the Gold Team walked over, ready for action. Cyclops, the leader, was the first through the door. Then followed the rest of the team – Jean, the telepath; Storm, the weather witch; Nightcrawler, the teleporter; and lastly Iceman, who could conjure ice at will. Logan's team offerings – Aiden, Rogue and Max -- came right behind.

Fury watched as these people vanished right before his eyes. The longer the door was open the more he could sense the change – the Honey scented air, the sound of forest creatures and a light breeze that came from nowhere. He thought he would be next to go, but Logan stepped through the door and though he never actually saw the door close, Fury knew it just the same.

"Logan!" he howled in anger.


	3. Chapter 3

Notes: Art for this chapter is up on my site if anyone wants to look at it.

Thanks again to all of you who reviewed. I am always grateful to hear from you guys. :)

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(Three)

"Go!" Logan barked to Scott. "You got twenty minutes, that's all the head start I can give you before Fury freaks out enough to send a nuclear strike down on us for that."

Scott laughed at the joke, but didn't waste any time. He signaled his group and they left, taking Remy and Kimble along as well.

The team was fluid, moving like a well oiled machine, and fell into well practiced habits. Jean, the telepath, was quick to psi link everyone, allowing them to communicate silently with one another using just their thoughts. The only trouble here of course, was that Kimble, like all Siskans, was shielded from her and a complete blank. No matter, Remy would keep Kimble up to speed with hand signals, both of them were so used to Molly's sign language they hardly thought about it any more.

Scott's first order of business was to have Rogue fly out ahead of them and see what was going on. She was quick to obey, vaulting up into the sky and then flew overhead the nearby town. She reported back only moments later that the town was exactly as Logan had laid it out and all was quiet. Maybe they were all sleeping.

Scott had her wait for them there as a lookout from above, and the team moved out, melting into the darkness and gloom of Twilight, silent and well practiced at this. Kimble hadn't had much training, at least not with the X-men. He'd been trained some just the same, by the ones who had kidnapped him during his stolen year, something Remy had often forgotten about. Kimble was at the rear of the line, but holding up his end well, giving Remy no reason to hold back on his account.

Remy couldn't help but be exhilarated as he ran along. Flying was a trip and a half, but he was an action junkie. He lived for this and had missed it so very badly. The group was cloaked and moving swiftly from the flower fields towards the small town.

Remy was surprised at the lack of patrols and wondered if this darker gloom was what passed for night here. It was difficult to even tell what time of day or night it was. So far this was seeming too easy. Of course they had advantages – this team had been trained for stealth, they were all cloaked, and had a master telepath leading the front. He had taken for granted the fact that Jean was masking their presence. Their primary task here was not to take down Frost's men or even rescue the kids. They were here for Frost himself.

Remy was right to think this was too easy and sadly, it was poor Kimble who tripped them up -- literally. They were sticking to the main path, but there were some areas of tall grass along the road. Kimble was last, behind Remy and heading up the rear, running in a sort of zigzag pattern, something he had been trained to do, to present a harder target to hit. He looked a bit silly and the moment Remy looked back at him to comment on it – they were cloaked after all -- he saw the flash of sliver in the grass just a second too late. The word, "Wire!" left his mouth just as the ground all around the Siskan exploded into flame and noise.

Remy skidded to a halt, all manner of fears streaking through his mind -- Kimble wounded, Kimble dead – it was a horror he had no desire to visit.

Gambit wasn't sure if he should be relieved or not when he heard Zander shout harshly, "Fuck!" from behind the cloud of dirt and noise. He next saw the Siskan fly drunkenly out from the smoke back onto the dirt road. He was filthy, his clothing ripped up from the dirt and smoke, and more than a little pissed off over the whole thing, but otherwise unharmed. Kimble had remembered his training well enough not only to zig like an idiot, but also to maintain a telekinetic shield close around his body as he moved along. He had been shot once a long time ago and it was a pain he had no desire to experience again. He had been tossed aside but not injured by the bomb in the grass. Unfortunately he had also blown their element of surprise.

"Kimble!" Scott hissed in a sharp whisper, hating to talk aloud like this but trying to keep his voice down. A waste of time seeing as how they had been exposed already, but years of training were hard to ignore. He didn't know if the Siskan was okay or not.

"Not hardly," Zander growled, flashing an irritated grin that held no mirth. He was insulted at the mistake -- he thought Kimble, the pathetic little Lover, was weaker than himself. The Punisher's voice was gravely and deep, not even close to Kimble's, as he complained, "Maybe you shoulda called me outs before we left. Leastways I knows not to step on no wires. Kimble don't."

Puzzlement crossed Scott's face and he took an instinctive step backwards. Yes, he had known that Kimble supposedly had more than one personality. Yes, he had seen Zander fight from a distance during the Game, using his glowing sword to mow down rows and rows of Jael's best fighters. But that was nothing compared to seeing the guy change right up close. Now he finally understood Remy's reservations about letting Kimble come along.

Kimble's beautiful pilot's body was muscular, it was part of the skin that Fallen had chosen for him. Kimble used that fine physique to make himself attractive sexually and so kept a peaceful, non-threatening posture when around humans, even to the point of hunching or hiding it some. He was a dancer, not a fighter.

Zander had no such shyness. He radiated strength and confidence and wasn't concerned if it was in anyone's face or not. He spread his wings out as he stood up straight, making himself seem larger and more intimidating. The jacket Kimble had been wearing had been damaged in the blast and he shrugged it off now, not caring in the least to discard it. Unlike Kimble, Zander could have cared less what others thought about him. The jacket that Kimble had been so very proud of meant nothing to Zander. He stood tall and proud to the point of arrogance, one hand bunched in a fist and flexing his large bicep, the perfect picture of a powerful man just spoiling for a fight.

Scott was unsure of what he was looking at, wasn't even sure what this person was saying. Multiple personalities were not his forte. He didn't get it. He didn't understand that Zander, being the warrior and defender he was, had absorbed the bulk of what little military training the Siskan had received during his stolen year. Kimble, the gentle pacifist Lover, could have cared less. When Zander said he knew better, he actually meant it.

Remy knew he had to do something fast before this got out of hand. Zander couldn't be loose here. He would kill everyone and not lose a wink of sleep over it, but Kimble would be devastated over it when he woke and found out about it. Zander killed, but it was Kimble who felt responsible for it. Remy didn't hesitate, but stood right up to Zander and bravely put a hand on the guy's chest to halt him, trying to sound as firm as possible as he said, "Zandy, dere ain't no need fo' you to be out 'ere. Kimble was doin' just fine wit'out you. Mebbe you best be goan back to sleep now, s'il vous plait."

Zander's grin grew wider and though the two men were nearly the same height, seemed to tower over the thief as he leaned in to playfully pinch Remy's nose as he would a child. "Oh, yer just too cute when yer bossin' me around," he teased, radiating playful yet dangerous intent with every word. His mouth was right up to Remy's in a suggestive but violent grin, close enough to kiss. "But I begs ta differ. Kimble fucked up. Now, likes it or not, you gots me."

Remy's legs buckled just a bit, bearing down under the weight of Zander's heavy emotional vibrations. The Punisher was powerful indeed and while Remy liked to show he was stronger and in charge of this Siskan, he knew he really wasn't. Not once had he ever gotten Zander to back off unless the big guy had wanted to already. The only thing keeping this from getting ugly was Remy's belief that Zander knew better than to harm him. It would crush Kimble's spirit too much and though the Punisher didn't like to admit it, he still looked out for the Lover as he would a younger, weaker brother. Remy was Kimble's property and so was untouchable.

Cyclops frowned, not liking this. He couldn't tell if Zander was just playing around with Remy or threatening the man's life. Whatever it was, it was ugly and unnecessary, and right now they had no time for it. "What's going on, Remy?" he whispered sharply again, trying to hold his anger in check.

"Fo'get it," Remy snarled unhappily to Scott, waving a hand in dismissal as he backed away from the Punisher, giving the Siskan his back in a show of defiance. He wouldn't be cowed by Zander, not even as he heard the man laugh at it from behind him. For Remy, the worst had already happened, Zander was here. They could deal with it later. They had bigger problems to worry about. "We blown. Dey gonna be comin'."

He was right. The alarm had been raised and now men were coming up the road from the nearby town, shouting at one another as they sleepily tried to figure out what was going on.

"Please! I kin takes them easy," Zander boasted, already conjuring his sword, making it appear seemingly from nowhere. The sword looked unique and special -- it was solid yet clear like glass and glowing faintly with an orange light. What it really was, was a telekinetic projection, the same as the crystal spikes he could also conjure at will if he had to. The sword was glowing faintly because he was using stored plasma energy from his own body to charge it. It was a deadly weapon and Remy had seen Zander use it to kill too many times already. It was why he hadn't wanted to risk Zander's appearance here in the first place, the Punisher didn't always listen to orders when he felt threatened.

"Put dat away!" Remy hissed with authority, trying his best to keep the Siskan under control anyway. "We ain't killin' nobody 'ere t'day. Non-lethal force only."

"Spoilsport," Zander grumbled, but he was still smiling. His eyes were somehow both merry and cruel at the same time, this monster was having fun out here, excited to be out with the opportunity to play. Still he was good for the moment and, not wanting Remy to lose any more face here than he already had in front of his teammates, dissolved the sword as ordered.

While all this was going on, the Gold Team was fast at work, doing their best to ignore what was happening at the rear as they switched gears and covered their front. Men were heading towards them, armed and ready. There was some hesitation in their approach. They could see where the explosion had occurred, but not what had caused it. The Gold Team was still cloaked and unseen in the gloom.

Cyclops was all too happy to take the gift of time. He signaled with his hands, motioning for them all to move to the opposite side of the road and out of the way. They did as one, all of them back with the program. Remy had Zander on a leash for now and the Siskan moved as he did, his eyes on Scott the leader, awaiting orders.

'_Crawler!_ Scott spoke out telepathically, calling for his teleporter. He was taking advantage of the psychic link that Jean was holding up for them to do this as silently as possible.

_Ya?_ Nightcrawler answered in his light German accent, coming closer. Kurt Wagner was a teleporter, yes, but he looked more like a demon than a man. His skin was dark blue and his eyes glowed faintly yellow in the gloom. He had pointed ears like an elf and a long, forked tail that swished behind him playfully as he awaited his commander's next order. He might look demonic, but he was a firmly devoted Christian with a heart gentle and kind. He was here to help, never to harm.

_Do me a favor and fetch Frost for me while we take care of these guys. You know the map. He'll be in the town, _Cyclops commanded, trying to salvage this mess.

_My pleasure, _the man replied and then disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Scott would have done this sooner except that when Kurt teleported, it wasn't silent. It didn't matter now, they had already been announced.

As Scott conferred with his teleporter, Jean threw up a telekinetic shield, providing a barrier between the team and the approaching men. She didn't need to be told, these actions were all routine for her. The team was still cloaked and she was waiting to see if they might get lucky. They did.

"Buster!" one man called out as he got closer. He had hesitated for a moment as Kurt had teleported, but seemed to think it was a leftover pop from the triggered boobie trap and not something more sinister. He was calling after a fellow who had overeagerly sprinted ahead of him to the bomb site, his gun cocked and ready. "Buster! Don't get your panties all in a bunch! It's probably just one of the kids that got loose. You know we didn't catch them all! Just mind yer feet okay? There might be more traps."

_Everyone quiet. They don't suspect us, not yet,_ Jean commanded and the Gold Team stood down, letting the men pass.

_These guys are such losers, _Iceman chimed in with playful arrogance, ever the jokester. Bobby Drake was the master of ice to be sure, but more than that, he was the team's sense of humor. That wasn't always a bad thing in a tight spot like this, it was a bad thing to always let things get too serious. _Don't see why Logan thought he would need the Gold Team for these bums. Should have sent in one of the junior teams, I'm sure they could use the field experience. Sending us in is overkill. _

_I'm sure Logan had his reasons, _Cyclops offered though he was grinning a little himself.

"Something smells!" Buster complained. He had walked through the drift of Nightcrawler's smoke.

"These boobie traps usually do, buddy," his companion replied, not the least bit fazed. He took a peek at the mess Kimble's buried explosive had made. There was a big dugout in the grass and one of the bushes had been burst apart, making quite the mess. At first he thought there wasn't even a body, but then he saw it, the ragged remains of a teenager, too blown apart to be recognized. Of course the body wasn't really there, Jean was making him think it was, the good girl that she was.

"Clean up in aisle five!" Buster's friend teased, chuckling at his own cleverness.

"That ain't funny, Bob," Buster replied, queasy at the sight of all the blood and gore. Jean was quite efficient at telepathic suggestion. Both men looked up as a small squad of armed men came up the road. They were bolder now that Buster and Bob were joking around.

"What's the sitch?" the leader asked.

"One less freak to chase down. I think it was one of the kids that got loose," Bob answered, crouching down and waving his hands over the grass.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing there but trees and dirt," the leader said, unable to hide the mockery in his voice. He was looking around now, eyeing the surroundings suspiciously. He was an older man, grey at the temples and hard, a career soldier by his demeanor. A large scar marred one side of his face. His voice carried a strong accent, one Jean could not immediately place.

Scott looked at Jean and scowled. _Why can't he see it?_

_I don't know, _she answered honestly. Her thoughts were directed to Scott, but she allowed the other team members to hear her mind, linking them all together in case they had any ideas to add. _I don't think he's human. I can't sense him at all, not like the others. He's blocking me out. _

_His shine is real enough_, Remy said, offering his two cents worth. _He alive at least._

Bob looked up at the guy. "When's the last time you had yer eyes checked, Gus? A hundred years ago?"

Gus lowered his gun, pointing it at Bob. He carried an M16 automatic rifle with an easy familiarity. This man had killed before. "Not funny. Someone's here."

Bob raised his hands, submissive now that he was being threatened directly. "Hey, dude. There's a body right there!"

"No, someone is making you think it is."

Bob leaned back, looking past Gus to the men who had come up with him. "Anybody else not see a bag of guts here in the grass?"

The men looked uneasily at one another. Clearly they all saw it, but were fearful enough of Gus that they didn't want to challenge the guy.

"Gunter punt dunan efest!" Gus snarled at Bob, spit flying from his mouth. "I do not see it because I am not human, you ignorant fuck! There is a telepath here!"

"But all the telepaths we captured are collared..." Buster, in his infinite wisdom, stammered dumbly, still not getting it.

Gus, being the brightest bulb in this particular pack, didn't care. He turned his rifle to the trees and began firing in all directions, forcing the men around him to duck and cover. Gus was out to hit anything, anyone at all, in the hopes of revealing the invaders. And the X-men were only a few feet away.

–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..--

Logan waited impatiently at the door Simone had made, checking his watch. It wasn't long before he heard sounds of fighting. It began with an explosion and he hoped it wasn't anyone stepping on a mine like he had. He had warned the Gold Team of this ahead of time at a briefing that Kimble, alas, had missed since he hadn't known he was even going to go along.

Kristalay took a step forward in that direction as if to check it out.

Logan growled at him, keeping him in place. "Where you goin'?"

"That sounded like Zander."

And he would know. Kimble, broken badly into four pieces, had lived under his roof for many months. Kristalay hadn't gotten to know all the personalities well, he'd dealt with Kimble the most, but there was one time, their final day together, when Zander had popped out with a bang. Zander hadn't taken kindly to the way Kristalay had treated them and let Kristalay know it without a doubt, skewering him with his sword. The only thing that had kept Kristalay from dying was the fact that, at the time, Zander had been too weak to fully charge the sword. Kristalay still carried the scar from it though, a star shaped smear on his chest that matched the one on his back from when Zander had run him through. He would carry it always, healing factor or not.

"What did 'e szay?" Aiden asked.

"I think it was 'Fuck!'. But I can't be sure. He sounded pissed off. Not scared. Mad."

"If it wasz Zandair you 'ear angry," Aiden said with a hint of laughter in his voice, "Zen Keemble and ze odersz will be fine." Aiden could be confident about this. No one had ever frightened him as much as Zander had. It was his raw power and air of invincibility. Zander was a pain in the ass, but a competent one. Aiden had no doubt that once let loose, Zander wouldn't hesitate to mow down anyone in the X-men's path.

"Shame the party's starting without us," Kristalay grumbled, not really that unhappy. He had understood why he was here. Being a soldier of sorts for most of his life, he understood the concept and reasoning behind orders, even if he was known to break them from time to time. Still, it was odd not to be in the thick of it.

"It might head this way just the same," Logan answered to that, fighting his own urges to just run off and get in on it himself. "I don't care much how you guys handle it if it does, just so long as you keep Simone covered. There's no one here I'm gonna cry over if they don't make it as far as Frost's guys go. Of course it would be handy having a prisoner or two to question."

Kristalay just smiled at that, happy with the invitation to slash away. He could only hope he would get the chance.

Kyle could have cared less. He was bored and miserable, still gloomy in his heart. Maybe coming along hadn't been such a good idea. He was so hungry now, he hadn't eaten anything yet this day, unable to stomach the slop they had offered him for breakfast. He just wanted to curl up on his bunk with Cody and sleep. He sat crouched at Logan's feet, fidgeting as he felt the minutes slip away. He felt a sharp sting in his leg at the ankle and growled in irritation, bending over to scratch and chew at it with his teeth just like a dog. These pains had been happening a lot lately, even more so when he was feeling a little down and unhappy.

Logan looked down at him, disgruntled that Kyle was still more animal than man. He had hoped the boy would come around faster than he was. He could have at least used his hands to scratch. "Somethin' wrong with yer feet?"

Kyle, wary under the scrutiny, wouldn't look him in the eyes. "Mrr! Hurts sometimes."

"You tell the doc?" Logan asked, knowing that Henry did check in on the prisoners from time to time. No one was sure what the side effects there would be to the withdrawal of Skye's favors. Henry had also been helpful in trying to find more things that Kyle might be willing to eat.

Kyle shook his head, still sulking, not even looking up. He didn't want to talk about this or anything else. He had said nothing about it, but he had begun to feel the changes start to happen just a few days after being separated from his Master. It wasn't quick, but he knew his legs were changing, slowly but surely, regaining some of their former shape. It was a subtle reminder that his Master was good and truly gone. Just the thought of that again now made him feel even more depressed. "Mrr!! M' fine!" he growled just so Logan would stop asking.

Logan looked him over, sensing the lie. Were his legs a little less crooked than last time? He couldn't tell, he simply didn't make a habit of looking the kid over each time he saw him.

Kyle squirmed again, rising and pacing a bit in a circle on all fours.

"What now?"

"Mrr! Have ..to take a piss!"

"Then just do it," Logan grumbled. "This ain't grade school."

Kyle grumbled to himself in irritation, hating being spoken to so harshly. It only rubbed in the fact that in this impromptu pack, he was the beta, the least significant member and submissive to all. He stumbled off to the side and found a bush, dropping his pants and peeing without ceremony. He returned and retook his place in a dejected heap at Logan's feet.

"Heh, me next," Kristalay said and stepped aside. Logan wasn't the least bit surprised to see him use the exact spot Kyle had used, marking his spot right over Kyle's. These guys were human, but animal enough that Kristalay still had to mark his place as dominant.

Kyle's scent changed as his rage spiked. Even now, Kristalay was still shoving his higher status in his face. Kyle considered fighting him for a moment, but then let it go. He couldn't win, he hadn't the last time. All it did was tank his spirits even more.

Logan just shook his head, sick of games, but feral enough to understand. Fine. He walked to where Kristalay had peed and then peed right over that, making sure to cover all of it. He looked back at Kristalay, daring him to do something about it.

Kristalay just laughed, shaking his head and stayed as he was, not taking it any further.

Logan was still relieving himself when he heard it – the soft clomping of hooves, the snort of a horse. Before he could even react Kyle whizzed past him in a blur. There was a choked cry and the scream of a frightened animal and then it was over. It took Logan a minute to process what his eyes had seen.

A single man on patrol had come up close while they were distracted and Kyle had taken it upon himself to eliminate the threat. He had run up to the guy silent and deadly, leaping up onto the man before the guy ever knew he was there. Kyle had him by the throat and they tumbled off the other side of the horse, the man's neck breaking in the process. The horse was unharmed but had panicked from Kyle's ferocity and fled, squealing away into the trees. Now, Kyle was dragging his kill off to the side, but not to hide it. No, Kyle was looking to relieve the hunger pangs he'd been suffering with for far too long. He wanted blood and meat and here it was, ready to eat.

Kristalay had followed him, not letting the boy get far. He ordered with gruff authority, "Give it up, Kyle. You don't wanna be eating our excuse now."

"Excuse?" Logan growled in irritation, standing next to him. Kyle hadn't yet begun to feed, but he wasn't letting the dead man go either, he was just sitting there, glaring up at Kristalay with pure hatred.

"Fury wants to know why we're late? There's yer excuse sitting right there." Kristalay spoke again in a sing song voice, " 'Well, Nicky, you know how it was. We had to close the door because a patrol came by, but it's all good now,'."

Logan had to admit Kristalay was right. He gestured to the boy and said, "Come on, Kyle. You're better than this and you know it."

"Mrr!!" Kyle replied to that with his mouth full, his fangs bloodied and red. He dragged his kill one more step away. "Mine!"

"Stupid kid!" Kristalay grumbled in exasperation and went after him.

"Creed, no!" Logan snarled but it was too late.

Kyle watched Kristalay coming and all he saw was a dominant male coming for his kill. He wasn't about to let him take it, not this one that he hated so much. He'd had enough of being shoved around and was ready to up his status if he could manage it, especially if it meant he could finally fill his belly for real. Kyle flung himself recklessly at the bigger man and they went at it, all snarls and claws. True to his style Kyle went for Kristalay's throat, just as he had with his earlier kill. Kristalay went down with the kid's fangs deep in his neck, but it was a controlled fall and then they were rolling around, snarling like two wild dogs and clawing the crap out of each other.

It was brutal but over quickly, leaving both men torn and bloody. Kyle had surprised Logan at first by his sudden speed and strength when he went after the guy on patrol. It had been impressive for a kid half starved. But then, that hadn't been an even match. Here now, Logan knew Kyle stood no chance.

Kristalay didn't hold back, slashing his smaller opponent across the belly and finally sending him flying with a crushing blow to the face. Kyle hit a tree and fell in a crumpled heap, his eyes rolling back as he was temporarily stunned.

"That's enough!" Logan howled and finally shoved Kristalay back, staring the man down. "You didn't have to do that!"

"Course I did," Kristalay replied, a hard cruel smile on his face. "It's all he understood with Skye and it's all he understands now. Yer too soft, James. You wanna keep the boy in line, this is how it's done."

Logan bristled at the use of his given name, the fact that Kristalay thought he could be so familiar. It was disrespectful and yet another painful reminder that this man was his half brother, something Logan would much rather forget. They had never been and probably never would be close.

Still, Logan's feral side understood where Kristalay was coming from, though the man in him disagreed. He was aware that Skye had brought Kyle to heel with more than just brutality. If a good beating was all it took to make him behave, Weapon X would have tamed the boy long ago. It hadn't happened then and it wasn't going to happen now, not this way.

Logan had made peace with Kyle weeks ago in a way that hadn't required a beating. The boy had made progress since then, becoming less and less feral. Kristalay? He hadn't even cared to try and change himself. That just wasn't who he was. Now more than ever, Logan regretted bringing Kristalay into this. He should have left him home.

Logan's watch beeped, reminding him that it was time to open the door for Fury. He looked past Kristalay to where Simone was standing. The ebony Siskan was hunched over, one hand curled into a fist in a defensive reaction to what he had just seen. The brief little brawl had frightened him. Aiden stood in front of him, relaxed but wary, guarding his brother in case the ferals had taken this even farther. The door was secure.

"We gotta move this body," Logan said to Kristalay, saving the argument for later. They had no time.

Kristalay didn't hesitate or argue, he did as he was told, dragging Kyle's kill over to the door where it could be seen. Logan picked up Kyle, heaving the kid up over his shoulder. He didn't like how light he felt, Kyle hadn't been faking his hunger. He was careful as he lay the boy down on the grass, grateful that even though Kyle's clothes were now wrecked, the cloaking bracelet was still working. He nodded at Simone, and Simone opened the door, letting foul Dockside air in from the other side.

Logan went partway through, just enough to reveal the door to the others on the other side. Fury passed through to Twilight, his face red with anger. "What the hell, Logan?"

"There was a problem. Got it fixed." Logan gestured to the dead man on the ground.

Fury stared at it, his anger only cooling by a fraction. He had an idea that Logan might pull something just because the man had been sparse on the details of this mission, but he hadn't counted on being completely left out. It didn't escape his notice that the guy had deep puncture wounds on his throat and claw marks on his chest. This was not Logan's kill. "Just who do you have guarding this door?"

"You can bicker now or get to work," came Logan's unsatisfactory answer.

Fury grumbled some more, liking this mission less and less. He felt used and unappreciated and it showed. He gestured to his men and they moved out.

Kyle woke up a moment later, groaning softly into the grass as he wobbled to his hands and feet. He was calmer now, his rage smashed right out of him. His face was all puffed and swollen from the blow Kristalay had given him. It would have snapped the neck of any ordinary man, but it was already healing quickly. He was still shaking and hungry, the smell of the dead man only a few feet away still strong in his nostrils. He wouldn't go after it. It had been his kill but now Kristalay had taken it and claimed it for himself, though it was going to waste now he could see. The best he could do was lick the blood from his hands, a terrible, horrible tease.

"That could have gone better," Logan grumbled, unhappy.

Kristalay was about to respond, but stopped when they heard loud gunfire from the east, not far from the road. The element of surprise was now over.

..–..–..-..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..--

(Nine)

Jason Frost had been sitting at his desk when he heard Kimble's trip wired explosive go off. It had been loud but not that close, just up the road a bit, in the direction of the flower field. He stood and went to the door, opening it in time to see some of his men heading up the road to check it out. He wasn't that concerned, not just yet. This wasn't the first time a trap had gone off and it would keep happening as long as he had some of those pesky kids still running loose in the woods.

He left the door open as a precaution and returned to this desk, not alarmed at all. If something was amiss, he'd hear it before long. He at least sat and put his boots on, just in case he was needed. Now fully dressed, he returned to his plans, his musings, still not alerted even as he heard some soft popping sounds in the distance.

It wasn't until he heard one right up close and smelled sulphur that he realized just how much trouble he was in. He gasped in surprise when a man who looked more like a demon than anything else, popped into existence right behind him. Before he could react, he was taken away in a cloud of smoke.

There are many different kinds of teleporters. Some jaunt easily and quietly so that the passenger never feels it. Sadly, a trip with Kurt wasn't quite like that. At least, not to the uninitiated. Frost was feeling buzzed and more than a little queasy when his ride finally came to a stop, leaving him dizzy and weak.

He found himself just up the road a bit, right where he had thought the trap had gone off. Looked like it hadn't been kids after all, he was on his knees now, and in front of a group of people he didn't recognize. At first he had thought there was just one or two of them, but then he realized they had been cloaked. One by one they winked into view, ordered to by a nod from the boss, a strong looking man with an odd set of glasses covering his eyes.

"Good evening, Mr. Frost," this man said, an odd little smile on his lips. It said that he knew exactly who was in charge here and it wasn't Frost. "My name is Cyclops, leader of the X-men."

X-men? Frost began to tremble with real fear at the name. He had heard of these people -- who hadn't? They were some kind of vigilante mutant group. It was rumored they were for peaceful human/mutant relations and had possibly been involved in the removal of Jael, a powerful anti-human terrorist. Now it seems, they were looking to even up the score on the other side.

Frost was shaking, putting up no fight as he wilted under the weight of Scott's stare. It didn't matter that he couldn't see the man's eyes. In fact that just made it worse. He had no idea what this mutant was thinking.

"What do you want?" Frost stammered. He jerked as he felt someone start sifting through his pockets. It was Jean and she had no trouble finding the doorkey. Logan had described it as looking like an ordinary pocket watch and there it was, right in her hand. She handed it to Scott. "Hey, wait!" Frost squeaked in protest. "That's –!"

"No longer relevant," Cyclops answered coldly, taking the doorkey from his wife. He gave it a quick toss and just like that, shattered it into bits with a quick blast of controlled energy from his visor. It didn't matter what was promised to Fury. The Professor wanted the doorkey gone and he would see it done. "You've been a very busy man, Mr. Frost, and we're not too happy with what you've done here."

"You have no authority!"

Scott just grinned that much wider. "Oh, but we do. We're here with SHIELD and at their request. Your work here is done."

Frost blanched noticeably at the mention of SHIELD. If he had thought the X-men were bad, SHIELD's involvement in this was worse. He hadn't been so thrilled to be locked up before. Now he feared his punishment might be even more severe than before. His various activities since his escape had been far more criminal that what he'd been previously charged with. He didn't know if they knew about the graveyard or not. "P-p-please! Don't kill me!"

"Oh, we're not here to kill you. That's up to the U.S. government and they can have you. We're here to shut you down. You've been very bad, Jason."

"No, wait! I'll pay you! I'll give you whatever you want!"

"Sorry, pal. Not interested. If you were so worried about being punished for your crimes, you should have thought about that before you decided to be such an asshole, Mr. Frost."

Iceman, the comedian of the group, couldn't help but laugh at that. Something about his straight laced boss swearing with such a poker face, it happened so seldom.

Jason's fear turned to anger as he realized the hopelessness of his situation. His voice was mean as he threatened, "My men are coming! They will save me!"

"I shurely hopes you don't means these guys," Zander growled, stepping back so Frost could see his men all trussed up. The X-men had come prepared, being sure to take along plenty of rope for just such occasions. His men weren't going anywhere.

Once Gus had started firing his weapon, the Gold Team had been left with no choice but to deal with the threat head on. Iceman had been correct in thinking that using the Gold Team was a bit of overkill. It had taken them less than a minute to shut this group down. Between the X-men's telepath and their superior training, Frost's men had fallen with little or no fuss.

The only exception had been Gus. He was clearly the best trained of Frost's rabble, but even he couldn't hold his own so outnumbered. Remy and Scott had cornered him while Zander used his telekinetic ability to throw Gus down to the ground, ready to be tied.

Now Frost was looking at the group of his supposed warriors, realizing that penny pinching here had been a mistake. He wasn't the least bit pleased to see Gus amongst them, the guy had been his one hope for rescue. His situation now completely out of his control, Frost slumped in surrender. "I want my lawyer."

"That's up to Fury now," Scott sad and nodded to Remy and Zander. "Tie him up with the rest and keep watch until Fury gets here. The rest of us are moving on."

"You leavin' me?" Remy questioned, cringing inwardly at how lame that sounded as soon as he said it. It was bad form to argue with the boss in front of captives, but he had assumed that when he had been included in the mission, he was being included for more than simply guard duty. He could have just as easily stayed back at the Dragon for all he was being used for today.

"We still have one more person to pick up," Scott answered, referring to Little Julie One Hand, his voice tense. He hadn't liked his orders questioned. "I need someone I can trust to watch these guys while we do that. You and Zander are up. Don't screw up." With that Cyclops gestured with one hand the rest of the Gold Team moved out and up the road, heading for the town.

Now chastised, Remy snarled on a curse and jerked Frost over to one of the trees and began tying him up. He wasn't gentle. Zander came to his side, giving an assist, but he was smiling now, his eyes hard. Remy saw it. "Sumpt'in on yo' mind, cher?"

Zander just gave a gruff laugh. "Oh, you don't wants ta knows what I'm thinkin'. Trust me."

"Tell me anyhow."

Zander looked at him, eye to eye, and said, "I wuz thinkin' that I knows why Ole One Eye left ya behind ta babysit these losers 'stead of goin' on with him."

"Why's dat?" Remy dared to ask.

"Cuz yer selfish and a coward."

Remy froze, unsure he had heard that correctly. " 'Scuze moi?"

Zander looked at him and began to explain casually, as if he hadn't just insulted Kimble's best friend. "There's two kinds of men – them what gives the orders, and them what takes 'em. Kim takes orders real good cuz he's a pussy and a coward. That's his place in the world. Now here's you, doin' the same exact thing."

"No really, Zandy," Remy sneered sarcastically, feeling his anger rise. "Tell me what you really t'ink, eh?"

"You asked, I toldja. Kim didn't really wants to come today and you knew it. You didn't really wants him to come neither cuz you knew he wuz scared, but guess what? He did come and only on account of you wantin' to play hero. That wuz yer selfishness. You didn't wants ta stay behind just now either, but guess what? Ya did. You didn't stick up fer yerself and that makes you weak. Yer a coward."

"I did what I 'ad to do. What was best fo' de team!" Remy hissed, outraged that they were even having this conversation. He wasn't the least bit happy that every word could be overheard. Some of Frost's men were laughing softly to themselves, amused by the exchange. He switched to Siskan, hoping Zander would do the same. **_"Scott needed de 'elp today, 'e jus' didn't want to ask. And oui, somebody always gotta stay behind and watch. Dis time it was me. So what, eh?"_**

Zander did not back down, not one inch. He continued in English, all the more to humiliate and instruct. "Tell me sumpthin' then, since yer so gosh darned shure of y'self and all – how come yer the one takin' orders then, 'stead of bein' the one ta gives them? I knows yer better and stronger than all this. If you wuzn't so weak and unshure of yerselfs, you'd be standin' up and takin' what's yers by rights. Butcha don't. Why is that?"

Remy just sat there, trying to swallow his hurt and rage. Zander was cruel, Zander was direct. Zander had a way of asking the hard questions boldly when others wouldn't. "I don't know what you mean," Remy answered, unsure of what else to say.

"Well then," Zander said with emphasis, "...when ya figgers that out, maybe then you'll gits whatcha wants from me, when ya wants it, without looking like such a gosh darn pussy."

"And what would dat be, exactly?"

"The respect ya deserves. My sword at yer ready and not just cuz ya belongs ta Kim and I'm keepin' ya safe. But because ya belongs ta **me**. You'd get that kind of loyalty not only from me, but from the others. Even Simone. A leader leads his team, without no thought of himself or fer usin' thems to gits what he wants from other people."

Zander finished his knot and moved away, leaving Remy behind as he was, fighting back tears of anger and frustration that stung his eyes. He wasn't sure what was more humiliating – the fact that Zander had said what he had so coldly, or the fact that the whole conversation had been on display for all to see and hear.

It was true that Remy had wanted more from his Siskans, but he hadn't thought his bravery was the issue. He hadn't considered himself to be soft. Zander's words, though painful, had brought him up short and were reminding him that maybe he wasn't paying close enough attention to what was really going on with himself. Of course, the warrior Siskan that had stolen Kimble's body might just be a vocal minority amongst the small gaggle of Siskans Remy had collected and regarded as his closest friends. Zander was by far the most aggressive and soldier like of them all. None of the others had put him on the spot like this. They might not share his opinion.

Lost in his thoughts, Remy wasn't the least bit prepared when someone suddenly slammed into him from the side and rolled him over, giving him a stunning blow to the face, nearly knocking him out. He had no clue who it was, but when he felt just the tiniest bit of rope brush one of his hands he charged it, not holding back. He turned his head away just in time to have the blast of it going off it miss his eyes, but there was no escape for his attacker. There was a scream and a howl and Remy was suddenly free as the man tumbled off of him.

The thief scrambled away and stood in time to see Gus grasping his wrist with his other hand, rising to his feet. Somehow the man had managed to cut the rope that had bound him, but loops had remained at the wrists. Well, the loop at one wrist was now gone. It had ignited more so than actually blown up, but it was enough to spoil Gus's chances of ever becoming a skilled pianist. His left hand was unrecognizable, a bloodied lump of ruined flesh and splintered bone.

Remy hadn't intended to do that much damage, he wasn't one to maim arbitrarily, he'd simply reacted without thinking. Well, there was nothing to do for it now. It was much too late to take it back. Perhaps it would make Gus that much wiser when he considered trying to make his next escape attempt.

Gus was learning fast. He had taken advantage of the earlier discussion of Remy's cowardice and had managed to free himself without being noticed. What he hadn't counted on was Gambit having talents beyond a pretty face. Still, the man was relentless. He wasn't about to let a crippled limb limit his plans for escape. His charged the thief, still spoiling for a fight.

"Go get him, Gus!" Buster shouted, getting the other prisoners cheering. Even Frost was smiling now, hoping for a chance for freedom.

It wasn't going to happen. Once back on his feet, Remy was more than ready for his attacker. Years of training sent gears in his mind whirling automatically into motion and he was dancing and fluid. One hand slipped inside his coat and found his retractable bo staff. Before he'd left his apartment, he had tucked it in there in its own little loop, just in case. He found it now without ever taking his eyes off the man coming for him. He had the staff out and with one flick of his wrist, had it fully extended and ready when Gus reached him. For this thief, that staff was as good as a third limb and poor Gus never stood a chance.

Gus, thinking he was going after an unarmed man, was suddenly confronted with a weapon that had seemingly come from nowhere. It was in his face, it was spinning him around, it was breaking his bones. Gus groped out with his one good hand but the wielder of it was too greasy to be caught.

"Stand still and fight me!" Gus howled in his frustration. He might not have been human, but he wasn't super powered. He didn't do anything more than simply stand up for himself and fight.

"Oh, Gambit is fightin'. Not 'is fault you too old and slow, old man," Remy teased, laughing now, enjoying the game.

Whatever hand to hand training Gus had received in his long life couldn't shine a light to what the Thieves Guild had dished out to their youths -- training this athletic and gifted mutant had soaked up like a sponge and excelled at. Remy's body was as much of a weapon as that staff and right now, with his adrenalin rushing, Gambit was right at home and having a blast. He was moving at top speed, feeling muscles bunch and stretch, flooding his brain with an instant endorphin rush. This he had missed, this he had craved with every fiber of his being. This was being alive and feeling the power of his own body without ever making a single kinetic charge. This is why he had wanted to come in the first place.

Gus was old school, more used to heavy brawling and throwing his fists around than any kind of Asian style martial arts. He could not catch this elegant thief, this skinny stripling of a man who was using the trunks of the nearby trees to vault in the air and leap about like a vaporous ghost. During this short but hard exercise in frustration, Gus' remaining fingers were smashed and broken before they did more than brush the faintest bit of Gambit's leather coat. A sharp crack to the back of his head brought him to his knees, a rather humiliating ending for this seasoned warrior.

Remy stood beside him now, not even winded, that staff under Gus's chin, holding his head up in a not so subtle threat. "You done now, mon ami?"

Gus thrashed and tried to grab the staff but it was gone faster than a light blinking out. It smashed into his face, breaking his nose and sending blood gushing down his chin. Remy kicked him, dumping him down onto his side. "You best be stayin' down, boy. I ain't foolin' around and you got plenty other bones to choose from. Gambit's just gotten started."

Gus groaned and surrendered, holding his hands to his face.

Remy looked up at Zander then. The Siskan was just standing there, leaning on his large sword like a cane, his eyes gleaming with amusement at the show Remy had just provided. He had conjured his sword just in case, but hadn't charged it. In fact, other than creating the weapon to have it at hand, he hadn't even moved to help Remy at all. He had simply watched the fight just like the others.

"Some help you was," Remy complained.

"You held yer own just fine," came the gruff reply, so much like Wolverine that it only spiked Remy's anger. Zander wasn't done. "You did what ya shoulda done – you stood up fer yerself and tooked care of business. Just like ya needs ta do with the rest of the X-folks. With alla us."

"You sayin' I should beat up m' boss?" Remy questioned, still irritated. He didn't get Zander's point. He didn't like Zander in the role of teacher. He'd thought they were done having this conversation.

Zander just squinted at him in exasperation. "Don' be an asshole just cuz I'm sayin' whatcha don' wants to hear. I'm sayin' take charge fer once. Don't takes no fer an answer alla the time, especially when you knows yer right. You been puttin yer own self down fer so long you don' knows how to do nuthin' else. Them others sees ya doin' it and then they does the same thing, knowin' you won'ts fights it. You wuzn't always this way, I kin sees that in yer shine well enough. You gots ta git yer mojo back.

"Take this fella here," he said giving Gus a soft kick with his furry foot. "He prolly figured he could takes ya just from seein' you back down to ole One Eye likes that. Now he knows otherwise. You gots to learn the others now, so they'll respects ya. Let them know you gots the chops to do more an be sumpthin' better than just some guy who flies people around. 'Less, of course, that's really what you wants to be doin' fer the rest of yer life."

"Non. No it ain't," Remy replied to that, relaxing some. Zander was instructive, even if his methods were a bit blunt and forced. Zander hadn't specified what that little something extra Remy wanted was supposed to be, but then, Remy figured this wasn't the last conversation on the matter they were going to have. The Punisher was nothing if not relentless. For the moment at least, they were done with it and ready to get back to work. Fury would be here soon, time to wait.


	4. Chapter 4

Notes: Howdy! Just like to say that the art for this chapter is up at my site. Not that I talk about my pictures all that much -- not so sure how many of you guys even look at them anyhow -- but I thought this chapter's pics came out pretty good, better than most of my average stuff. Might wanna check them out...

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(Four)

Back at the flower field, Logan stood by the door Simone had made, still nervous about the gunfire cracking off in the distance. It had slowed some, but it wasn't long before he heard the short burst staccato, more controlled gunfire of Fury's well trained SHIELD agents in response. Logan was more used to being in the thick of things than just standing by like this and it was making him a bit impatient.

Simone was behind him, starting to growl and whine. His Mistress was out there somewhere and Leroy as well, his main reason for coming here in the first place.

"Easy, buddy," Logan said to him, trying to keep his voice even. "Don't let yer fear get the best of ya. The Gold Team knows what it's doing. Yer Rogue will be safe."

Simone quieted and stepped back and away, not wanting to be a bother to the feral man. He didn't need Logan's reassurance. Leroy would be taken care of all right, even if Simone had to do it himself. In fact that didn't sound like such a bad idea, once it had crossed his mind. He had been defeated by Frost's men in the past, but now the situation was different. Those men now had their hands full with SHIELD and the X-men. They wouldn't notice one little ole Siskan rescuing someone they could care less about at this point. It was time to take things into his own hands, to do what he had come here to do. Quick as a wink, he stepped through the door he'd made and was gone, having never made a sound.

"Maybe we should go help out the others," Kristalay suggested to Logan. He was bored here himself and ready for a little action. He was looking the other way, the same direction Logan was, and hadn't seen Simone's departure.

"We guard the door, that's our job. Folks are counting on us," Logan grumbled with authority, not wanting a mutiny here.

Kyle just laughed. He was still in a dejected lump in the grass, his hands still sticky with blood he hadn't quite washed off. That didn't mean he hadn't seen what Simone had done. "Mrr!! First...need ... a door...to guard, eh? Mrr!"

Logan turned, looking behind him and cursed. He should have known Simone wouldn't sit still and be quiet, not with all the sounds of destruction going off. The ebony Siskan was gone, taking the door with him. By using the door himself, his leaving had been silent and unnoticed. They would never catch him now.

"Son of a bitch!" Logan snarled. He glared at Aiden. "Why weren't you watching him?"

Aiden raised his hands, cornered. He didn't like being put on the spot. How did this suddenly become his fault? "Aiden did not know what 'e would do. 'E wasz lisztening to ze fight, szame asz you."

"What's yer fuss?" Kristalay just growled at Logan. "Not like you don't know where he's goin'."

"Rogue," Logan growled, saying the name like a curse.

"Non," Aiden corrected. He was on the same page as Kristalay and said, "Rogue can 'andle 'erszelf. Leroy cannot. "

"He'll head for the sheds. That's to the left of the town," Logan said, having memorized the map he'd made.

"Then that's where we should start," Kristalay agreed. He clicked his tongue at Kyle, "Get up, we're moving on."

Kyle rose and the group took off, heading towards the town. They didn't bother with the path even though they were cloaked, they wanted to avoid being noticed just the same. They kept to the trees and hadn't gone far when Logan heard them, a pack of dogs running loose in the trees. Great, that was all they needed.

"**Punctar lacat granash!**" Aiden growled in some guttural tongue and Logan staggered to one side as the Siskan blew past him in a rush.

"Stick together!" Logan snarled, but it was too late.

Aiden had sped ahead of them with startling speed and met the pack of dogs head on. He had clicked off his cloak, wanting the dogs directed at him and not the others. The pack was small at least -- four fully grown Rottweilers, huge and growling their challenges. This was new, Logan hadn't spotted any dogs on his last trip out.

That fact didn't deter Aiden at all. In a blur of black leather and snarling curses, he went at them in nothing less than a full on rage. Two he killed outright with telekinetic spikes, hurling the weapons ahead of him and taking out the lead dogs with enough force to tumble them backwards down into the bushes. The other two he charged in a huge leap, their bodies all colliding together with a dull, angry thud. They rolled and spun, Aiden snapping the neck of one in an elegant but deadly dance, the last one he simply threw through the air with enough velocity that its body broke with a sickening crack when it smashed into the nearest tree. The whole thing took less than a minute.

"Somebody don't like dogs much, huh?" Kristalay chuckled in his raspy growl. He was impressed, it seemed Kimble's little friend could do more than simply push a mop and bucket around.

Logan was stunned. He knew that the Siskans were more powerful than humans and could at times be faster, but this? The whole thing had been so savage and fast, not unlike when Kyle had attacked the man back at the door. It was just another reminder that Logan had no idea just who his current teammates were, nor did he really have control of them at all. This was going from bad to worse.

"You didn't have to kill them," Logan complained, walking over to the mess Aiden had made. In most cases, Logan was content to injure or stun attack animals. Unlike humans, these beasts hadn't been given a choice in their profession. He considered them innocents.

"**Punctar gladden tokay danar!" **Aiden snarled, his voice guttural and low, not quite his own. He wasn't injured much, the dogs hadn't had time to do more than bite, and those were already healing, or at least sealing up. He wasn't bleeding. His eyes were down, slightly crazed. He was standing there, leaves and grass stuck all over him, looking not entirely sane.

"English!" Logan hissed at him in frustration. The last thing he wanted was for Aiden to break apart like Kimble did. It was easy to forget that once Aiden had been shattered far worse than Kimble had been. Last he knew Aiden had been successfully reintegrated, but he hadn't liked the voice Aiden had used.

Aiden shook his head, clearing it, and stood up straighter, calming down at once. He cracked his neck and looked at Logan, his eyes returning to normal. His voice was strained as he tried to explain, "Zey usze punctarsz...dogsz... to train Krishnak to fight."

Logan nodded. Krishnak, that was Aiden's Zander, a gladiator personality that was all business. Krishnak had once made a living for his master as a ring fighter, fights that more often than not led to the death of one of the opponents. The training had been brutal and hard, no life for a gentle hearted Siskan designed for the pleasures of the bedroom. In spite of the horror of it Krishnak had done well there and it was his combat training that served the now integrated Aiden well when he was forced to defend those he loved.

Wolverine made a mental note to himself to add animal training to Aiden's list of things to work on. There was no reason an attack dog ever had to die. But there would be time for that later. "We got no time fer this. We gotta catch up with Simone before he does something really stupid and gets himself killed."

The team moved on and just their luck, they caught up with Simone on the outskirts of the small town. He was crouched over by the edge of one of the cabins, holding a battered copy of Logan's map in one hand, trying to read it and find the sheds where he knew Leroy was kept.

Logan came up behind him, trying to keep his voice down. "Simone!"

Simone saw him and ran, afraid that Logan would try to make him go back. He was determined to free Leroy and would not be stopped. He took off at a run, out into the open.

It was a mistake. One of Frost's men stood up from a hiding place in the bushes and fired an automatic rifle at the now exposed Siskan. Logan ran fast, trying to knock Simone down before he could be hit. He grabbed hold of the runaway Siskan and tossed them both into one of the small cabins, hoping to use the building as cover.

Once inside he realized to his horror that he had made an even bigger blunder than Simone had. He could smell plastique and saw the wires running along the back wall just a little too late. Geez, Frost's men were just a little too explosive happy around here.

"Blow it now!" someone shouted and then all was noise and flame.

Simone screamed in terror as the building exploded and collapsed around them. He wasn't the only one making noise, Wolverine had thrown himself over the defenseless Siskan, shielding him with his body as an ocean of debris fell over them like a tidal wave. Simone was crushed under the man's weight, hearing Wolverine's loud roar of shocked surprise and then something more. Everything went dark and the noise swallowed them both.

..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–.–..--

Kristalay, by stroke of luck, or just his enhanced senses, or by perhaps even simply by virtue of holding up the rear, managed to avoid being caught in the explosion. He did however, hold up his end by gleefully taking out their attackers, slaughtering them without mercy. There had been three men, one of them holding the detonator that had blown the nearby building to bits. Kristalay then returned to the downed building to investigate.

Aiden was there at the wreckage, trying to help out his teammates. He was dusty but unharmed. Kyle had not been so lucky. He had come to the doorway right when the cabin had exploded and while he wasn't buried down deep, was pinned down in a stack of fallen walls and debris. Aiden tried to pull on some of the wood to free him, but halted as Kyle gave a gut wrenching scream of agony. He was trapped.

"Kyle!" Kristalay shouted in alarm without thinking, the fact that he used Kyle's given name and not Famayalin something significant though Aiden didn't know the pair well enough to realize it.

In an odd twist of fate, this particular building had a basement and not just a slab, something that worked in everyone's favor this go around. The debris had a place to go to and no one was crushed completely. Still, Kristalay was left with quite the mess. Falling back on decades of military training, he commanded loudly, "Sound off!"

No actual words came, but Logan managed a coughing reply from down below, followed by a startled cry from Simone -- "Wolv'rine!" It wasn't much, but was enough to let him know those two at least would be all right. Kyle was another matter, all he got in response was another agonized wheeze.

"Don't move, Kyle! I'll get you out," Kristalay promised, going to work.

"Allow me," Aiden insisted, startling Kristalay somewhat. Aiden had some telekinetic ability, he could do this more quickly, but Kristalay hadn't known that.

"No," Kristalay ordered, instantly taking charge. "We might get Kyle here out, but not the others. They're in too deep. Go get help. Cyke and his guys should be around here somewhere." It wasn't an unfounded assumption. They could all hear sounds of the Gold Team at work not all that far away.

Aiden nodded and took off without another word.

Kristalay went to work, choosing his path cautiously. If he took the wrong piece out first, he could worsen the collapse. He didn't have to dig far to see how badly Kyle had been pinned. The poor guy was a mess, his upper body was free, while his hind quarters were nearly crushed and useless. Every attempt Kristalay made to move anything that pinned him, poor Kyle cried and screamed like the poor wounded animal he was.

"Easy, easy, kid," Kristalay tried to soothe, it all coming out wrong with his rough, gravelly voice. He was no mother.

Kyle just snorted with disbelief, blood leaking from his poor disfigured nose and mouth. "You like this, don' you? Mrr! Hear.. me ...scream?" he wheezed, but still able to show the anger. He was being bold, he still wasn't sure if the big guy could even be trusted to actually help him.

"No, I don't. What's past is done," Kristalay answered, speaking the truth. He knew why Kyle distrusted him. They had brawled frequently in the past as Skye's lions. One fight in particular came to mind – their last major confrontation over Skye, over who would be the Master's favorite. It had been an ugly and brutal free for all in Skye's white tiled washroom, ending in a savage rape, marking Kyle as the loser of all. Needless to say, it had made that last spat they had just shared in the trees look like a tea party. Kristalay could understand why Kyle would never forget it. His voice was as kind as he could manage as he said, "I'm gonna get you out and we're going to get help. I'm never going to hurt you like that again, there ain't no need."

Kyle did not believe, he had endured way too much to ever trust the other man about anything. Kristalay heaved and managed to get the largest piece of debris free. Kyle howled in pure, raw agony, unable to keep silent as he made sounds no human should ever have to make. His legs had been crushed and were now useless and broken, bending in ways they had never been meant to go.

Kristalay's actions were automatic, he pulled Kyle up against him in an awkward hug, offering him the only comfort he knew how. It was easy for him to do this now, there was no one to see and the kid needed to be silenced. He wouldn't say it, but this kid had stopped being Famayalin to him the moment they had both been taken from Skye. Neither of them were who they had been then, nor would they ever be again. It was a time best forgotten by them both.

Kyle sobbed now, his body one huge agony, his tears of pain just another humiliation in all of this. This brought back memories of that ugly fight, unhappy ones now, of being held by this man. The smell of him, of blood and sweat and feral rage. It had been like this that day in the washroom, when he had lost the Master and he cried out now, "Mrr!! You took... him from me!"

Kristalay pulled Kyle that much closer, trying to keep him quiet. "Yeah, I know. But it was never personal."

"You lie!" Kyle sobbed, but he was quieter now, just as Kristalay wanted him to be. He was growing sleepy now, tired from the blood loss, shock, and the breaking of his mind.

"Hey, kid. I am how I am," Kristalay replied with no remorse. He wouldn't excuse himself, he didn't know how. "Skye had what I needed so I took it. You were just in the way. There was just no way I was gonna be bottom dog, you should know that about me by now. That ain't never gonna change. It's who I am. Who we are. But that's done. Gone. You aren't always gonna be last. Yer time will come, sooner or later. It doesn't matter anymore."

Kyle slumped against him, too weak not to surrender. He was of course unable to deny how nice it felt to be swallowed up in those huge arms, all warm and tight, in this moment of terrible weakness and misery. The pain was ebbing away, he was finally healing though not as quickly as he had in the past. Skye's magic was indeed wearing off.

Kristalay could see it, that the healing was taking longer than it should. He recalled when they first were launched by Skye in the Game, how they had mowed effortlessly through Jael's men in spite of being shot at and stabbed. That day, their injuries had healed as fast as they were made. This was not happening now. Some of it could perhaps be blamed on Kyle's weakened state, even he could see the boy was half starved. More than that though, were the changes in Kyle's legs he hadn't noticed until now. Kyle's feet looked more human than they had in the past, there was a little less bend at the knee than there had been, though that could have just been from being so badly broken. Kristalay didn't want to dwell on this too long, he didn't want to think about what this might mean for himself.

"Logan!" he called out.

"Yeah?" came Logan's voice, stronger now from below.

"I sent Aiden fer help but this kid can't wait. Don't know why but he ain't healin' up like he should. It's takin' too long. His cloak's gone too, he can be seen. It's too busy here, gonna take him someplace where it's quiet so he can heal up."

"That's a bad idea. We should stick together!"

"I won't go far," Kristalay promised, not caring that Logan was against it. "I'm takin' him back to the flowers."

Logan shouted more protests from below, but Kristalay didn't care. He lifted up the poor shattered boy in his arms and walked off into the trees, never looking back.

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Simone was having far more adventure than he had bargained for. When the building had first collapsed, it seemed to last forever, but once the rumbling had stopped, Simone found the courage to move.

"Sound off!" someone called from above, an order Simone did not recognize. Logan did, and he coughed, an unpleasant sound.

"Wol'vrine?" Simone called out in a soft woof, his gravelly voice now loud in the darkness. He felt hot and oddly wet and sticky, a sensation he didn't like. "Wol'vrine!"

The only answer he got was a tortured groan.

Simone managed to carefully wiggle out from under the man's weight. Funny, he could move out from under his companion, but Logan stayed as he was, he didn't fall into the space Simone had vacated.

Simone reached around into his pack and found a couple of light sticks. He broke them with a sharp crack, lighting up the small space they were now in. He then looked up at his companion. What he saw made him shriek in fear and horror.

Logan was trapped in debris, it was in fact the only thing holding him up. He was almost standing, his body supported by a large pole that had impaled him through the chest like a spear. This pole was also the only thing holding what was left of the ceiling from crashing down on them both.

"Wol'vrine!"

Logan gasped, shuddered and then coughed, making Simone jerk back a bit as he sicked up a small torrent of blood. It looked nasty but had a purpose, Wolverine was breathing easier now. He had been impaled through the right side, though the lung. This not being the first time, Logan had learned enough of what to do. He coughed up the blood that flooded the left side, even as his body was healing up around the pole that was now melded with his body. He gasped and tried to smile apologetically at his companion, "Easy, kid."

Simone whimpered softly in mental agony. His empathy was more than enough to keep him from falling for Logan's cavalier attitude. He knew this was bad as it looked.

"Hey," Logan said and reached out to touch Simone's face. Wolverine was not a man who touched others, but trapped in here with no one to see, he felt compelled to reach out to this creature who was more of a child than a man and offer the poor terrified guy some comfort. "I'll be all right. We'll get out of this."

Simone leaned into the offered hand and covered it with his own. Before Logan could even react, Simone released a burst of glittering red Morrowhiem, a small cloud that was absorbed right into Logan's skin. It sent a hot rush of sparkly warmth and relief right up Wolverine's arm and invaded his body like a drug, exploding its intoxicating heat all through him. He was instantly flushed and then for a moment fiercely aroused in spite of being pinned so ridiculously like this.

Wolverine shuddered and bit down on the snarl that wanted to rip from his mouth. If it had been any of the other Siskans who had done this, there would have been no attempt at restraint for his anger, but this was gentle Simone. A half man, half child creature who had done this only to kill his pain. Many times Logan had seen the Morrowhiem used by Star in a healing and knew the erotic flush was a side effect and not the intent. As much as it was something of an uninvited trespass, Wolverine had to admit it was working. Even though he was a little antsy in the pants right now, the deep, huge agony in his chest was gone.

"Better now?" Simone asked, his voice still shaking. He was terrified.

"Yeah," Logan replied, gently pulling his hand away, not wanting to appear angry. He was feeling a little trippy now, the Morrowhiem was quite the rush. Beyond Star, he'd seen Asher use it many times as well on Kimble and was now amazed that Kimble could take such a rush and not be blown away by it. Wolverine found himself laughing just a little at the absurdity of this. "Thanks, kiddo."

Simone grunted and stepped back, turning away to inspect their tiny room. It was small, they had only about four feet in a crumbly shaped square around themselves. No light was coming through at all, they were trapped in the deep.

Wolverine stayed as he was -- yeah, like he was going to go anywhere –-- buzzed enough to wonder just how it was that Simone could trip him out like that, arouse the hell out of him, and then turn away unfazed by it to do something else. Geez, Rogue was making out like a bandit, living with someone whose sexual control was so powerful.

Simone laughed softly for no reason, an odd sound. He laughed so rarely.

"What?" Logan questioned, not as rough as usual with a pole stuck right though him.

"Yer thinkin' of m' Mistress."

_How do they do that? _Logan thought to himself. _They're not supposed to be telepathic._ _Of course, he spent all that time with Asher. Ash probably taught him all of his tricks. _"Says who?" Logan challenged just for fun. It wasn't like they had anything else to do.

Simone's silver eyes gleamed in the semi-darkness like an owl. "You **Chuckfets** cain't hides nuthin'," came the cheerful reply.

Wolverine grunted softly in amusement. Funny how the word **Chuckfet**, ordinarily an insult from Aiden, didn't sound so from Simone. Simone was much too innocent and uncomplicated, a creature without malice for all the blustering he had shown them when he first came to be with the team. For Simone, **Chuckfet** was just a word to separate the fleshly from the created. For Aiden it was a derogatory slur that placed the created Siskans on a higher level. Not so with Simone who simply liked -- or disliked -- everyone more less the same.

"Oh, yeah? What about her?"

"That she's lucky to haves me. That ain't true. 'S me that's lucky," Simone answered in his usual humble fashion.

Wolverine grunted another laugh. Oh, the joy of new found love. Simone and Rogue hadn't been an item long. He got why Rogue was there, her needing the physical contact with another person. But other than that, Simone was so much like a child, so passive and weak compared to other men she had been attracted to. He didn't share Remy's outgoing and reckless nature. He couldn't help but wonder if Rogue would eventually be bored with him when the fascination wore off. He didn't want to dwell on that right now so he asked instead, "How did you know what I was thinking?"

"Asher teached me how to read the shines."

"You can tell all that just from my shine?"

"Shure, it's in the colors. It's kinda complicated since ya cain't sees them shines yerself, but Asher's real smart and he's a good teacher."

Logan grunted at that, trying to keep Simone talking. He could see that Simone was still a bit nervous about what was going on above, he could hear the noise of Kristalay trying to dig Kyle out. It wasn't really obvious, but Kyle's blood was now dripping down through the boards, just a bit to Logan's left. Logan would have suggested Simone try to reach the kid with his glitter if he thought it would help, but he doubted it. To try and fail might just be a tease.

The light sticks weren't that bright so Logan asked, "Can ya reach my flashlight? I got one in my belt somewhere."

Simone came up close and started patting around Logan's shoulders and waist, looking for the flashlight. Wolverine wasn't so comfortable with this now, with Simone right up against him. The Morrowhiem was making him loopy, a non-organic substance his healing factor wasn't purging as fast as any chemical pain reliever. In fact, it wasn't purging it at all. He was still quite flushed and heated, trying to ignore it. It was better than the pain by far, he wasn't about to complain, but geez, the boy was so close. Simone's intentions were passive, he was simply obeying the order given, but when one hand slipped just a little too low, Logan growled softly in warning. He was much too aroused to be pawed up by someone of the wrong gender.

"Sorry," Simone said with the proper submissiveness, withdrawing quickly. He kept his eyes down, his movements betraying lessons taught to him by Asher on how to keep this feral man in control. He handed Logan the flashlight and gave no sign of having noticed the effects of the Morrowhiem on his companion.

"Logan!" came Kristalay's voice from above.

"Yeah?"

"I sent Aiden fer help but this kid can't wait. Don't know why but he ain't healin' up like he should. It's takin' too long. He's cloak's gone too, he can be seen. It's too busy here, gonna take him someplace where it's quiet so he can heal up."

"That's a bad idea. We should stick together!"

"I won't go far. I'm takin' him back to the flowers."

"Creed, wait!" Logan called out but the man was gone. Logan grumbled in irritation. Now all they had to do was wait to see if Aiden could get the others to free them or not. He hoped it wouldn't take too long. He didn't want Kristalay and Kyle left on their own and unsupervised for long. Who knew what they might do?


	5. Chapter 5

(Five)

"Frost keeps lookin' at you."

Remy looked up at Zander, "Quoi?"

"He keeps lookin' atacha. Like sumpthin's on his mind."

Remy looked across at Frost and met the man's gaze, drinking up the man's shine. Before this little interruption, Remy had been leaning against one of the trees, absently sifting a deck of cards through his hands. He was bored, but still wary of the men after Gus had attacked him like that. Afterwards he and Zander had gone through all the knots again, making sure everyone was tighty tight. Gus had been bandaged up and cared for as best they could until they could get him to an actual doctor. Now all they had to do was wait.

He hadn't been oblivious to Frost's attention, but he had chalked it up to a natural curiosity about mutants. There really weren't that many of them in the world and Kimble's blended skin really stood out. Now he could see Frost was smiling ever so slightly, like the cat who had swallowed the canary. Yeah, he knew something all right.

"Mebbe 'e want a whuppin' like I gave 'is little boyfriend, eh?" Gambit teased, but when Buster laughed, he realized it wasn't at the joke, not quite. One look at Frost's shine confirmed his guess. Frost was hiding something. Unfortunately here was not the best place for an interrogation. It would have to wait.

"I think he's sweet on you," Zander joked, a bit bored himself. "He ain't tooked his eyes offa ya since ya tied him down."

"Tooked?" someone from the peanut gallery taunted. "Speak English much, you ignorant rednecked freak?!"

Remy was startled into laughter. It had been a while since anyone had made fun of Kimble's twisted accent, a trait that all of his various selves carried. The accent was a bit disarming, Kimble was one of the smartest people Remy had ever met. It was easy to mistake him for a fool, which he wasn't.

Zander lifted his sword and twirled it with skill, looking over the group, trying to see who had spoken. He wasn't the least bit upset over the remark, Remy could see his shine was calm, he was just bored. "Leave dem be, Zandy. Dey ain't worth yo' trouble."

"Well, they are certainly worth mine," came voice from behind them.

Remy turned to see Nick Fury followed by a group of his men. "You late," Remy chided, not unhappily. With Fury here to collect Frost, he and Zander might be free to go on ahead and follow the Gold Team.

"Blame Logan for that," Fury grumbled. He looked at Remy's face and squinted. "I see you had some fun with the boys."

Remy rubbed his cheek where Gus had struck him. He had a nice big bruise there now. "Nuthin' we couldn't handle."

Fury looked over the group of prisoners with satisfaction and toed Frost with his boot. "Where's your doorkey, Frost? I want what's mine."

Frost didn't answer, but Buster just laughed. "The man with the glasses broke it. Now we're all stuck here forever, even you."

"An' he said I wuz dumb," Zander teased, unable to do so without sounding menacing. "Hey, stupid! We gots here on our own selfs, no helps from you or no doorkey. Ain't nobody trapped anawhere's now."

Fury stood there, watching Zander tear the man down with the strangest look on his face. Fury was not a dumb man, nor was he uninformed. This was Kimble's body, but not Kimble himself. Fury had seen video footage of the Siskan a while back and had kept tabs on him. Technically, Kimble himself had once been a SHIELD prisoner left in the custody of the X-men. He had given testimony against his former Master, Sabretooth, and on the activities the feral man had done while Kimble had been with him during his lost year. Fury had refreshed himself on Kimble's tapes after the Game, there had been too many Siskans involved in that mess for him not to. He was not ignorant of the fact that Kimble had been split.

Fury wondered now if Kimble was the one who could conjure the doors, there had been much that the X-men had not told him. They were such cagey fellows, Logan especially. But for the moment, Fury's concern was the doorkey. He glared at Remy. "Is that true? Is the doorkey gone?"

"Since when was it ever yours?" Remy returned, a bit quick himself. He hadn't been privy to this information before they left and it had caught his attention.

"That's classified," came the ritual response.

Remy just smiled, going back to the restless sift of his cards. "If you'd had trouble wit yo' doorkey gone missin', you coulda jus' asked us to 'elp you get it back. Mebbe some of dem kids would still be alive right now."

"We had no idea what Frost was up to or we would have. That's all I'm going to say on the matter," Fury grumbled. "But I want proof the key was broken. I won't let anyone else have it."

Remy shrugged and bent to pick up the shattered doorkey remnants from the grass. It wasn't complete, Scott's energy burst had melted enough of it that it could never be backwards engineered, the point of destroying it that way.

Fury took the remains and gritted his teeth in irritation. "This was never our deal."

" 'Twas was an accident, like," Zander replied with a gruff laugh, as bad a liar as Kimble ever was. He was amused by the whole deal.

Fury wasn't. "I want your key as well, when this is done."

Remy shook his head. "Our key a person. You got no right."

"I have very right!" Fury snarled, his frustration evident. "This is a matter of National Security. You and freak boy here are coming with me. I want your key in whatever form it is, and I'm keeping the pair of you until I get it. For all I know it's Kimble himself who made the door."

Fury's men responded to his words, though no actual orders had been given. They raised their weapons and stood behind Zander and Remy, ready to take them into custody.

"I ain't goin nowheres!" Zander snarled and raised his sword.

Remy raised a hand asking for patience from Zander. He stood casually, not the least bit intimidated by the movement of Fury's men. He was cool and easy and was looking at Fury when he said, "You take me an' Zander here and dere ain't gonna be 'nough words to describe how sorry you'll be, patron."

Fury squinted at the name Remy had used. Zander. It only confirmed his guess that something freaky was gong on with Kimble. He sneered at Gambit, not the least bit afraid. "I'm shaking in my boots, boy." He nodded at his men. "Half of you go on up to the town, I want the kid, Julie One Hand. The rest of you come with us, we're taking Frost and these boys on home before this clusterfuck gets any worse. Let's go."

Zander stood back, but again Remy signaled to him. He said in Siskan, _**"Leave it be fo' now, Zandy. I know you can kick all dese guy's asses, you don't got nuthin' to prove to me. But dis jackass t'ink you make de door and fo' now dat's just fine. Anyt'ing to keep dem from Simone. De X's'll come get us back on Dockside. Better to go along fo' now. We don' need a war."**_

"_**All right,**_" Zander agreed, but it was conditional. If the locks and chains came out, there would be blood. _**"It'll save us the trouble of walkin' back Frost on our own I guess."**_

Fury made a face at the exchange, but he wasn't one to respond to threats. Whatever Remy had said, it calmed the Siskan and the sword was now vanishing, vaporizing into thin air as if it never had been. Fury's men grabbed their new prisoners and they all got moving, making quick time back to the flower field, only to discover that that field was now conspicuously vacant.

Fury took a good look around, his brain ready to burst from all the frustration he'd suffered at the hands of the X-men today. "Where the hell is Logan!"

..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..--

Aiden ran down the dirt paths of the small town heading for the loudest noise. He wasn't that fearful for himself. Like Kimble, he could make telekinetic shields and kept a low one around his body in case he ran into something unexpected. Of course he was still cloaked which was also a help.

Aiden came to a stop a moment later, for a second frozen in wonder by what he saw. The Gold Team was fast at work, using the best of their abilities to collect and manage Frost's men. Iceman was building huge corrals of ice and Storm was using her powerful winds to move them inside. Rogue was also disarming whomever she could find, her invulnerability a plus, and dropping the men in from above. Nightcrawler was stacking the guns they were collecting off to one side. In other words, Gold Team efficiency at its best.

The Gold Team had their hands full with more than just Frost's men. Jean and Cyclops were both standing in front of a group of young people, some of the kidnap victims that had been freed as the X-men worked their way through the town. They were happy to be free and some were helping out, but still others were a bit eager to have their revenge against the men who had tormented them so. Some of the girls in the group were a bit rabid, wanting to claw their eyes out and spitting. Jean was doing her best to hold them back, though it was hard for them not to have sympathy.

In all the noise and confusion, there were many loose animals running around – horses, goats, and the occasional cow. Aiden watched, bewildered as a horse went trotting by, its saddle empty of its rider. It wierded Aiden out to see it, it made him think of Asher. It was the first time he had seen the actual animal his brother's skin had been based on.

Aiden had no time to indulge his fascination. He looked around, trying to see if any of the Gold Team members were free to help him out. It didn't seem so, but then he caught sight of Max off to one side, he was floating above one of the buildings, keeping an eye out for strays. Aiden called out to him and ran over, waving his arms.

Max watched him come, a small frown of annoyance on his lips. It was no secret that Max disliked Siskans, he was a protégé of Logan's and so had inherited the same prejudice. "I'm a little busy!" he replied, unable to keep the edge out of his voice at the interruption.

"Too buszy to pull Meeszter Logan from a downed building? Aiden will be szure to tell him you szaid szo, eh?" Aiden snapped and turned around, heading back the way he came. He knew that would get Max's attention and he was right.

The winged man dropped down beside him, keeping pace although Aiden was walking quickly in his anger. "Logan is trapped? Is he okay?"

" 'E can szpeak. 'Ow bad could 'e be, eh? But 'e isz trapped. We need 'elp to dig him out," Aiden answered. Truth was, he wasn't the least bit concerned about Wolverine, it was Simone that was on his mind. He wasn't sure how his brother would react to being so confined and helpless for an extended period of time.

Aiden and Max arrived back to the small, shattered cabin quickly. Aiden slowed his pace as he noticed that Kristalay and Kyle were gone. He wasn't sure what it meant.

Max brushed past him impatiently and leaned down over the wreckage. Kristalay had cleared a good deal of it aside in digging Kyle out, but there was plenty left to contend with. "Mr. Logan? You in there?"

"Yeah!" Logan called up from below, his voice hoarse from his injury. At least Simone's therapy was still holding, he wasn't in much pain. That would come later when they had to pull the pipe out of him.

"I'm going to dig you out, just hang on," Max promised and got right to work. He was a much more powerful telekinetic than Aiden. He used that power plus his ability to fly to rise over the rubble and mentally pick it apart, being careful not worsen the collapse by pulling the wrong piece out first. At the moment he was a level three X-man and had his eye on the big prize – a spot on the Gold Team for real. To that end he made sure to sign up for as many classes as he could in the use of his power and also for search and rescue tactics. It was paying off in spades now – he was able to work the mess quickly, lifting the worst of it off to expose where Logan and his Siskan companion were trapped.

Aiden moved to the edge of the now exposed crater and reached down, helping Simone pull himself up and out easily. Simone came out of the hole and smiled when he was back out onto the grass, happy to be free. Simone wasn't chummy with others, but Aiden was working on that. As a show of his concern, he brushed his arm over Simone's as he tried to pass by, halting him with a half hug. Simone took it and smiled shyly, resting against him for just a moment. Because he had lived so long in complete isolation, it still startled Simone that he could have pleasurable contact with someone other than his Mistress, even if it had nothing to do with sex. It soothed his jangled nerves, calming him after this unsettling experience.

Simone gave his thanks in return, leaving a quick, platonic kiss on Aiden's cheek as he moved on, something that made Aiden smile. This is what he was trying so hard to show Simone. That there was real meaning to the word "family" and that he was part of one, one that would always be there for him. Aiden was happy that Simone was beginning to understand. The kiss was a sign of that. It had been an innocent thing they had just shared, something children would have done.

Their exchange had been brief, but not so brief that Max hadn't caught it out of the corner of his eye. He said nothing, but Aiden saw the quick rip of black streak through his shine, that it had disgusted him. Max, like most of the men at the Complex, did not understand that these Siskans were in fact like those children and thrived on physical displays of affection, it was how they had been programmed. This cultural difference was what Kimble was constantly fighting. The trouble with empathy and the seeing of shines was that so little of what people were thinking was hidden. Kimble, with his poor wounded heart, was better off not knowing.

Simone either hadn't noticed what Max had thought or he simply didn't care. He simply crouched down in the grass, up against a tree, and stayed out of the way while Max worked. He was growing a bit fidgety now that he was free – all this mess had interfered with his goal of leaving in the first place. He wanted to find Leroy.

Max meanwhile had finally gotten to the point where he could lift Logan out. It wasn't easy, he'd had to carefully sever both ends of the pipe that had impaled his boss so he could carefully bring him back up onto the grass. Max set Logan down and watched as Logan sank to his knees. All the moving around had used up any residual magic from Simone's spell and he wasn't feeling so great anymore. It hurt to breathe with the pipe section still lodged in his chest. It was going to be a bitch to pull it out – the flesh of his body had healed around it quite nicely.

"We... we gotta go ... get Kyle..." he wheezed. "He was worse off than me."

"We will, once we get you fixed up," Max promised. He knelt next to Logan and put one hand on the back end of the pipe, feeling it with his hand and his mind, preparing to pull it out with his power, it would be more gentle than to just yank on it. "Let me know when you're ready."

Logan nodded, tired now. "On three."

They counted together and on three Max began to ease it out, his power making this easy. Well, easy for him. Logan groaned and then choked on a scream, the pain a huge bloom in his mind. Blood poured from the wound and once the pipe was out he fell over onto his side, curling up a bit as he suffered with it, as his body healed on its own. He lay there, shuddering for a minute or two and then grew gradually still. He coughed hard once and sicced up more blood as he had before.

Simone made a soft noise of concern and came closer, unsure of Logan wanted him to use the Morrowhiem again. It had seemed to help him before.

Logan saw him come and raised a hand to halt him. It had felt great sure, but he didn't want it used on him again, certainly not in a crowd. He'd been in pain before and probably would be again. He was somewhat used to this.

They waited a moment for Logan to recover from his injury, each one taking the time to rest. It didn't take long. After only just a few minutes, Wolverine slowly got back to his knees and shuffled to his feet like an awakening drunkard, not quite steady, but needing to get moving. He took a step, moving in the direction of where Kristalay had taken Kyle, but Simone stayed as he was. Logan wheezed at him, "Come on, kid."

Simone just shook his head. He felt guilty that the others had gotten into this mess on his behalf and it showed, but that didn't lessen his need any. He wanted to find Leroy.

"Come on, Simone," Logan ordered again. "No more screwing around."

"I'll catch up with yous."

"That wasn't the plan. This is a dangerous place. You saw what just happened. Don't make this any worse. We have to stick together."

"Kyle kin heals. Leroy cain't."

"Simone, wait!"

"I hafta goes!" Simone cried and was gone again, just like that.

..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..--

"Fuck this crap!" Logan snarled. "Max! Go run him down! We'll catch up."

"Right, boss," Max said and took off in a rush of feathers and wind.

Max caught up with Simone at the sheds, they hadn't been located far from where the collapse had taken place. He came up short when he saw an odd thing – Simone was rolling on the ground, beating the crap out of some kid who had been right there at the sheds as well.

"Hey!" Max shouted, upset that Simone would dare to attack any of the poor kidnap victims that might be running around in the confusion. He grabbed Simone and threw him off, tossing him aside. It wasn't as easy as it had looked, Simone was enraged and Max was forced to use his telekinetic abilities to move the man.

Max then grabbed the boy and shook him off. "You okay?"

The boy looked up at him, rumpled and dirty and scared half to death. He was thin, nothing more than skin and bones in clothes too baggy and loose to be a proper fit. It took a moment for him to register the fact that this kid was wearing a gold crossed smock and had a mangled left hand. But it was the one good look at the kid's face that was his undoing. Max released him, letting go of him like he was diseased. "No way!" he gasped, surprise getting the better of him.

"No way, what?" Logan growled. He and Aiden had come up from behind them, still moving a bit slowly because of his injury. He was taking in the scene – he saw the boy, Max's surprise, and Simone leaving them alone to check the other sheds, calling out for Leroy.

"His face!" Max gasped, his wonder turning to anger.

The kid Simone had attacked tried to bolt but Logan snatched at him before he could get far. He jerked the kid around, getting an eyeful of the boy's face, right up close. All Logan could do was stand there, an ironic grin that didn't hold an ounce of mirth spreading across his face. "And people wonder why nothing ever surprises me anymore."

"Izs he? Isz dat—?" Aiden stammered in his own shock and wonder, but Logan cut him off with his own angry question.

"Are you Julien Tanner?"

The kid didn't answer but his fear spiked at the name, answer enough for Logan. Not that there was much doubt. Here was Little Julie One Hand, golden crossed smock and all. Not that Logan had even needed that to know, one look at the kid's face had sealed that deal. Just the same Logan snarled at him, trying to get some real fear into the kid. He wasn't cooperating. "Answer me!"

The kid squeaked in terror, his breathing rough and rapid, his eyes wide, but no other sound escaped him. He wasn't going to answer.

"Per'apsz if 'e could szee you, 'e might szpeak, eh?" Aiden said, coming even closer. He shut off his cloak and the boy gaped at him, at this man that had popped into view from nowhere.

Logan grunted, he had forgotten that while they could see the kid, he hadn't been able to see them. He switched off his cloak, waiting until the others had done the same before repeating his question. "Are you Julien Tanner?"

Still the boy did not answer though he was taking in their faces, these strange men he clearly did not know. His fear hadn't lessened any but there was some anger now in his eyes.

"Mebbe 'e he cannot szpeak," Aiden suggested again, having some sympathy for the lad. He looked ready to pee his pants. His shine was a terrible thing to see, he was bordering on a terror so large, Aiden thought he might faint.

Logan wasn't impressed or the least bit sympathetic to the kid, especially now that he wasn't cooperating. He had heard nothing good about the lad and regarded him just as culpable as Frost. "Oh, I know he can talk. I heard him myself when I was here before."

Logan smile only grew wider and more toothy when he smelt the boy's fear spike again."Oh that's right, boy. I was here, right under your noses, not even a week ago. Looks like your precious boss isn't as clever as you thought he was."

The kid squirmed feebly in his grasp, trying to get away, but it was a useless effort, really. He was lucky if he was a third of Logan's weight and had no skill in fighting. His poor mangled hand was of no assistance either, the fingers were all but useless. As before, a mutant restraining collar was around his neck, a small yellow light on it blinked in the gloom, showing it was activated.

Logan rudely dumped the kid to the ground with some force then, knowing the little squirt wasn't going to go anywhere. He was right, the kid just curled up and cowered, not even trying to escape. Logan took off his own cloaking bracelet and tossed it to Max. "Put that on him."

Max hesitated, unsure about this. "Aren't we supposed to turn him over to SHIELD?"

Julien squeaked in fear at the name and tried once more to bolt. Logan grabbed him, shook him roughly and again threw him to the ground like a dog playing with a rag toy. "Stay down, boy! I ain't tellin' ya twice!"

Little Julie One Hand lay where Logan had tossed him, some of the light going out of his eyes. He was going into shock, shutting down.

Logan left him as he was, his heart hard. He looked back at Max who was still waiting. "He comes with us. You remember what Scott said about all of us bein' family? Well, this just got personal now. This is family business. We'll take care of it. I'll take responsibility for the decision."

"This is wrong, Logan, and you know it."

"Aiden will do it," Aiden said, coming forward and taking off his own cloaking bracelet. He put it on the boy, letting the two men bicker by themselves.

"Of course you would," Max snarled at him, his disgust for the Siskan all too plain. "He could be a freakin' serial killer and you'd still stick up for him just because he belongs to your precious --!"

"That's enough!" Logan snarled, cutting Max off. "Get Simone so we can get the fuck outta here!"

Max backed off, his hands up, but he was clearly pissed off. He went for Simone who was at one of the sheds now, pounding at the wood and trying to get it open.

Logan moved to assist them, but he stopped to glare at Aiden. "Don't let this little punk out of your sight. He's coming with us."

"Yesz, bossz," Aiden replied, happy that Max was now further away. He held the kid close to him now, feeling the poor thing just tremble and shake. Aiden didn't release Morrowhiem to calm him, but let slip some vibrations of comfort, just enough that he felt the kid relax and stop fighting him. "I am Aiden. I will not 'urt you, leetle one."

If Aiden was hoping for a reply, he didn't get one. The boy wasn't going to talk to them, not right now.

Logan went to the shed that Simone was trying to break open. Max was helping out but they were having a hard go of it. "Let me," Logan offered, popping claws on one hand. He no sooner had cut the lock when there was a hard slam against the door and the occupant burst out, tumbling him back on his ass. All he saw was brown fur and hooves, feet that barely missed his face as the creature came running out.

"It's a stupid goat!" Max said with a laugh. He had been told that Leroy was a faun so he understood Simone's confusion, but he still thought it was funny. "Why would they put a goat in there?"

"That ain't no goat," Logan said, unable to stop from smiling. This was no angry smile like he had for Little Julie One Hand. This one was all pleasure. "Grace?"

The goat turned around, not having run far. It was sleek and brown, all power and not bloated belly like many goats Logan had seen before. A broken length of chain was attached to a metal collar around its neck. It was looking at him now and if goats could smile this one would be laughing right at him. It bleated at him and he saw it then, a metal tongue ring in its mouth. "Those things will break yer teeth, girl, if yer not careful," Wolverine continued to tease. He rose to his feet, dusting off.

The animal bleated at him again and then began to melt, shapeshifting into the body of a young girl. She was blonde, naked and dirty, but still full of fire and life. She complained at him merrily, "You sound just like my dad."

"So you're a shapeshifter?" Logan asked, sliding off his coat. It was slashed up and dirty, but it was better than nothing. He handed it to her and she took it.

"I prefer the term were-goat," Grace said in reply, with just enough humor that he knew she thought it was just the coolest thing. She let him look at her as she dressed in his coat. She wasn't the least bit shy at showing herself off, letting him know she thought he was attractive, her gallant rescuer. She was quite pretty in human form, even with the horns.

Logan tried not to stare. He was lucky if she was seventeen. "Did they hurt you?"

She shook her head. "Nope. The boys weren't much into bestiality."

"Good fer you, girl," Logan praised. It always pleased him when kids stuck up for themselves, using their powers to their own advantage instead of hiding or cowering. He liked her spirit.

Simone wasn't interested in girls or goats. He growled in complaint and moved on, abusing the next shed he came to. "Leroy!"

"The little goat man is in there," Grace said, pointing to the next one down.

Simone didn't thank her but he moved over in a rush, his frustration getting the better of him. He smashed the wood with even greater fury and lucky for him, this shed relented with little fuss. The door broke apart and Simone was inside. He found Leroy there, still chained, dirty and bloodied, but still alive.

"Traveler..." Leroy gasped, too weak to move. "I am so glad you came back."

"No one's ever gonner hurts you again," Simone promised, snapping the chains that held Leroy down hard enough to break it from the shed wall. He scooped up his tiny friend into his arms and carried him out, holding him close.

"Give him some water," Logan ordered, motioning for Simone to lay him down.

Simone did as directed, but looked up sharply when gunfire erupted not far from where they were. "Not safe!"

"It'll be all right. Let him drink and then we'll go."

Simone took a bottle of water from his pack and let Leroy drink. The faun took it, greedy for it, drinking in big gulps. Simone gave him some crackers as well, for which Leroy was very grateful. He clearly hadn't been fed much.

"Not too much or he'll be sick," Logan advised. "Time to go anyhow. We've left Kyle and Creed alone too long."


	6. Chapter 6

(Six)

The group packed up and got ready to leave. Simone was serious about taking charge of Leroy. He helped the poor little guy up on his back, all the easier to carry him.

Leroy did his best to be helpful and was grateful to be carried, he was much too weak to walk very far. Simone didn't mind, his Siskan body was thriving on the contact though he gave no sign of it. He loved to be touched and Leroy's skin was warm against his own. More than that were the vibrations of appreciation from his friend, he had been missed. Leroy had been just as worried about him as he had been for Leroy. It was a reminder of something Logan had told him a short while ago, that he could be loved by more than just his Mistress. His family was growing and he didn't mind it one bit.

Aiden helped Little Julie One Hand to his feet, a bit saddened by the fact the boy was so frail and abused. He looked like he was ready to break at the slightest touch. Even though he still wore his smock, it didn't hide the fact that there was blood on his clothing at the legs and the Siskan guessed he had probably skinned both of his knees with all the rough handling he'd received.

"Easzy, leetle one," Aiden tried to soothe, but the boy wasn't having any of it. He jerked in Aiden's hands, looking back at the shed he'd been at when Simone had found him, his shine swirling with new colors.

Aiden was quite perceptive. "Bossz?" he said, trying to get Logan's attention.

"Yeah?" Logan replied, looking aback at him with some impatience. They had taken too long already. It was time to go.

"Ze boy, dere isz szumpt'ing zere 'e want. De firsz' shed zere."

Logan sighed, weighing his options. It could be nothing, but then, Simone had found Little Julie One Hand here. The kid could have tried to hide when the town was being taken, but instead he had risked everything to be right here. Why?

"I'll check it," Logan agreed and walked over to the shed. One sniff told him it was occupied. There was a girl in there, one who made no sound.

"His woman is there," Leroy said to Logan's unspoken question. There was some sarcasm in his words, he hated Little Julie One Hand just as much as he hated Frost. "Not that she ever speaks to him. He calls her Kiden." He said the name as "Kee-den", an odd one.

Logan nodded, recalling that Simone had said that Leroy had seen Little Julie One Hand here many times before, apologizing to someone. He looked at the boy. "You want this girl?"

The boy stopped struggling against Aiden and nodded, his eyes insistent. For one moment his anger and fear was gone, replaced by his concern for the shed's occupants, an emotion that was very real.

"Then tell me yer name."

The boy snarled at him, his frustration obvious. "Julien Tanner!" he hissed through clenched teeth. He looked as though he didn't believe Logan would comply.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Logan said, an ironic smile on his face. He was happier now, having some leverage on the boy. He had known the answer already, but now he knew the boy would not lie. Not for her.

Logan popped the claws on one hand as before and broke the lock. The locks on the sheds were cheap, Jason Frost cut corners where he could. He opened the door and was forced to back up when the smell hit him. Whoever was in here, they hadn't been as well cared for as they could have been.

Logan sighed and braved the stink to venture inside. He saw a young girl there, not even chained. She was slim and blonde, as thin as Julien was, barely skin and bones. She was filthy and half naked, dressed only in a shredded shirt that had been twisted into a diaper, wrapped around her poor tiny pelvis. A mutant restraining collar that matched Julien's own blinked around her neck. Logan growled at the sight of it, how could anyone treat kids this way?

"Hey, kid," he said to her, trying to keep the anger from his voice. He didn't want to frighten her.

She lay as she was, unmoving, as though he hadn't spoken at all. He poked at her, disturbing one of her poor boney legs, but she didn't react at all, though he could see her eyes were open. If he hadn't been able to hear her breathing and her soft heartbeat, he would have thought she was dead.

_Great_, he grumbled to himself. It was unkind, but he was aggravated at the delay. She would have to be carried. The plan had been to take care of Frost's men and then come back for the kids, it still wasn't safe out there in the trees and they had to get back to the flower field. It was too much to ask for that no one had noticed they had left their post.

Being careful now, he gently eased her out, his nose wrinkling at her stink. The diaper was soiled and wet. He got her out and lay her on the grass, smoothing the hair back from her face. She was so young, so young, fifteen if she was day.

"Do not blame the boy," Leroy said, his eyes growing sad at the sight of her. "To his defense, Frost would not let him care for her like he wanted to."

Logan glared at Julien. "Fuck that. He did nothing to save her or the other girls. He collaborated with Frost, you said as much to Simone. That makes him just as responsible in my book."

Julien crumpled a little at that, but his eyes were still hard, meeting Logan's own with a fear filled defiance Logan didn't like. There was nothing but hatred there, a mutual dislike that was strong enough to be felt by all.

Wolverine had no time for it. He tore off his shirt and though it wasn't all that clean now, used it to replace the soiled shirt around Kiden's waist. A little blood and dirt was far better than urine any day. He then looked at Max. "Take her. I want to cover our front."

"Yes, sir," Max said without hesitation and lifted her up onto his back as Simone had done for Leroy. It wasn't easy, she was a limp bag of bones, catatonic and unhelpful. Logan was forced to use a bit of rope to tie her hands so they would go around Max's neck and keep her on. At least she wasn't very heavy.

"Let's go!" Logan ordered. "Everybody stick together!"

They took off into the trees, trying to avoid the gunfire that still crackled off and on in the distance. They moved quickly enough, in spite of being so burdened. Grace was swift and sure, keeping up easily behind Logan with little effort, but then, she hadn't been here as long.

"You're X-men aren't you?" she asked after a moment.

"Yeah," Logan answered, keeping his voice down. He was trying to keep this quiet, but he couldn't begrudge her too much, she was keeping up well.

"Cool," she replied, a soft laugh in there. "I thought you might be when I saw your jacket before." She kept her voice as low as his, but it wasn't enough to hide the hero worship. She was beaming now.

Logan smiled softly to himself, knowing his jacket was a gonner now. Ripped up and bloody, it didn't matter. She wouldn't part with it for anything. It was hers now.

It didn't take them long to get back to the flower field. Logan grew more eager the closer they came, he had picked up Kristalay and Kyle's scents along the way. The boy had left a blood trail that was sadly all too easy to follow. Kyle had been severely injured and Logan was just hopeful it wasn't more than his body could cope with.

Logan suddenly caught a whiff of more than just Kyle's blood and stopped up short, raising his hand in a fist in a signal for the others to stop. They did and crouched down, some things were just instinctive.

Logan signaled again for them to stay put and cautiously crept forward. The blood smell was strong here and it belonged to someone new. There was just the faintest bit of gunpowder in the air and Logan wasn't surprised to see a discarded rifle lying in the grass. What he hadn't expected to see was Kyle lying half over the body of another man, his face deep in the man's belly, feeding. Kristalay was nowhere in sight.

Wolverine put his head down, deciding. He was unsure of what had happened here or how to deal with it. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply. As far as he could tell, they were alone here, he heard no other voices or people moving about. He would have to risk talking to Kyle and hope that whatever danger that had been here, it had passed.

"Kyle," he called out, trying to get the kid's attention.

Kyle raised his head at the sound. He saw Logan and hissed, showing bloodied fangs and bloodshot eyes. He looked like a cougar at a feast, which in fact he was. It was a perfect recap of when he had killed the man on patrol only just a few short minutes before.

Logan rubbed his chin thoughtfully, ignoring the feeling of deja vu. He knew Kyle wasn't going to give up this kill as easily as the last and Logan didn't want to fight him. He didn't want to fall into the same trap that Kristalay had, the endless cycle of meaningless beatings that only crushed the boy's spirit more and more each time. He had to get Kyle off his kill to get him to talk, he would be much too wild with blood in his mouth.

"Don't hurt him."

Logan startled and looked behind him. Grace had disobeyed his order to stay put and had come up, wanting a closer look. She had a strange light in her eyes, a familiar one. He had seen it before with Karen. This girl wasn't turned off by ferals -- she had obviously seen this before, and was fascinated by it. Great, that was all he needed right now.

"Get back, girl, he can't be trusted. Not with his meat right in front of him."

"He's one of yours, right? Since he knows you, you can talk him down. It just takes a little patience."

He stared at her, squinting a little, wondering where such vast wisdom would have come from. She was young like all the other kids here, still in her teens. She wasn't telling him something he hadn't known, just something most other people didn't realize or understand. Up close now, he could see her eyes were not human, even in this shape her eyes were still sidways slotted just like a goat's. They hadn't changed back with her. Distracted some, he wondered if that was how she had been able to see him even when he had been cloaked.

"I came from a street gang," she explained, taking his hesitation as him not understanding what she had said. "Our leader was a feral. I was his lupa. His girl, right? Sometimes he had to be talked down when he got.. ..you know... a little carried away."

Logan had to stop himself from rolling his eyes in exasperation. Lupa was a term he'd heard before, it came from a book about werewolves, meaning the highest ranking female of a pack. She hadn't said it, but there was another word he knew all too well as well – "clawdog". It was slang for a girl who was attracted to ferals. It was a word that to a degree described his own wife -- Karen had based her early psychiatric career on how feral mutants should be handled. It was a word that obviously applied to this girl as well. Her eyes were positively gleaming as she watched Kyle feed.

"I'm not going to hurt him. Just...just stay back, okay? Just in case."

She nodded and he turned back to Kyle. "Hey, kid. Time to let it go. You've had enough."

Kyle disagreed. He sank his teeth into the man's belly and dragged the now mangled corpse two steps back, his eyes daring Logan to follow. He snarled, showing bloody fangs once more. It was true he had fed well already, his little belly so flat and hard before, was now bulging some. He had gobbled down as much as he could in the time between whatever had caused this and being interrupted. It had been to some benefit, though, his legs were functional now at least, if not exactly in full working order.

Logan dared to follow him the extra two steps, but stopped short when something in the grass next to him caught his attention. There in the flowers was a large crush mark. Someone had fallen there and thrashed a bit, breaking the precious flowers on their stems and making quite the mess. There was blood there as well – Kristalay's. Logan had been a tracker long enough to read this simple puzzle. Kristalay, carrying Kyle, had been shot and he had fallen there. Just his luck, he had drunk a mouthful of Honey, grabbed a moth, and got his ticket out of here whether it had been planned or not. Logan wasn't worried about Kristalay, they had thought this might happen to someone and so had people stationed nearby where Logan had been found by Kimble earlier. He would be picked up.

Kyle had then dispatched their attacker and with no one to stop him, had fed to his little heart's content. He was doing so with gusto, going back to his meal now that Logan had paused. Logan could hear the rough meaty sounds of the boy carving flesh from bone. Done with the man's liver, he was now ripping as much meat as he could from the guy's thighs.

"That's too gross!" Max complained from the distance and then Logan heard him retching. Logan didn't fault him too badly, some things you just don't see every day.

"Kyle, give it up now," Logan said, moving closer. They needed Kyle off his kill and he had eaten quite a bit already. His stomach was bulging even more now and they'd be lucky if he didn't puke it all back up later. "You've had enough."

Kyle blinked up at him with eyes that were already growing sleepy around the edges. He had expected Logan to fight him, but that wasn't happening. Instead the man was speaking to him oh so reasonably and it helped to ease the anger from his mind. Just as Logan had said, his poor body had had enough. Still he stayed as he was, just licking the blood from his lips like something sweet.

"Kyle, come," Logan ordered, just as he would with a dog, only he was sure to keep his voice level. "I don't want your kill, but it's time to go home. We're finished here."

Some of the sanity returned to Kyle's face and he was willing enough to comply after all. He heaved himself up onto all fours, enough for Logan to be sure his legs were working fine now. He hopped a couple of steps, but paused to belch, swaying just a little. A line of bloody spit dripped from his lips.

"He's not gonna hurl is he?" Max complained again.

"What's the big deal, Max? You did," Logan couldn't help but tease.

"Wasn't me," Max protested. "It was the freak."

Logan looked back, his face already hardening at the unkind remark. He could see that Max had spoken truthfully, even if he had been crude. Julien was positively green around the gills and shaking at the sight of what Kyle had done. He wilted under Logan's scrutiny and cowered, pulling up the hood of his hooded sweatshirt over his head so he wouldn't have to see any more.

Logan was about to reply when he heard voices coming -- Fury and his men had arrived back at the flower field. They were only just around the corner.

..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..–..--

"That's it, Kyle. Time to go. No more foolin' around," Logan ordered.

Kyle nodded and got moving. He wasn't as steady as he could have been but he was compliant which was enough for Logan right now. Aiden had given Julien his own cloaking bracelet so now Logan took his off once more and handed it to Kyle. "Can't let Fury see you."

Kyle fumbled with it, his eyes so heavy now, so heavy. Grace dared to approach and before Logan could stop her, was already working the bracelet around the boy's slender wrist, unmindful of his bloodied face and hands. Once the bracelet was locked in place, she released him and stepped away. It was probably a good thing, Logan didn't like how he had been sniffing at her, she was still only half dressed.

"Let's go," he ordered and the group got moving, heading round the corner of the field to where Fury now stood, cursing the fact that Wolverine was not there guarding the door as promised.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Nicky. I'm right here," Logan growled.

Fury turned, his face dark at the disrespect. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Got a little sidetracked, but all's well now."

Fury wasn't so sure, looking over this ragtag bunch. He didn't see them all – Simone, Julien and Kyle were all still cloaked. He did see Logan and Aiden. They had been at the door originally so that wasn't new, but he now saw Max carrying some dead girl and was that another girl with horns, half naked? Logan himself was shirtless now and still a little bloody from being run through by the pole. "Looks like you found yourself a little party."

Logan squinted. "It wasn't like that, if that's what yer askin'. These folks just needed a little helpin' out as you can see." He looked over Fury's group, unhappy at the way Remy and Kimble were being kept off to the side, like they were being held back on purpose. "I can see you've been busy. Is that Frost I see over there? Heh, all's well that ends well, then."

"Not quite," Fury sneered. "You have something I want and you won't be getting these two back until you hand it over." He gestured at Zander and Gambit.

Logan just smiled, showing a bit of fang. "You can't be serious. You got what you wanted, you got Frost. What more do ya need?"

"I want your doorkey. Now."

Logan crossed his arms, a sign of real anger. He was smiling, angry as he was, but he sent out an urgent telepathic message to Jean whom he knew would be receptive to any of the X-men here on the island. _Get your asses here, now. We've got a problem with Fury._

_On our way, _came her reply quickly enough. _I sent Rogue on ahead._

_Thanks, darlin'._

"You aren't getting my guy," Wolverine said aloud to Fury, who had no idea that Logan's backup was already on its way. "You get pushy about it and we can all just stay right here, forever like. Might not be so bad, livin' here in the trees. Didn't see much in the way of big game fer huntin', but at least there's some cabins already made up fer us, if ya like."

"That's not even close to being funny," Fury complained, though he could hear Remy laughing softly from behind him. What really wasn't funny, though, was the fact that Logan might be right. Already Fury could see Rogue flying in and down from the sky. Back home, he might have been able to give a group of X-men run for their money, but not here with so few of his own men. As it was, he only had half his crew behind him, the other half was now busy with the town.

Fury grit his teeth. "I'm not so sure we'll be working together much in the future, Logan. Not if this is your idea of teamwork."

Wolverine just grinned. "Don't worry about it. There'll come a time soon, when you'll need me and I'll be there, just like I always am."

"We'll see about that. In the meantime, Frost is mine."

"Frost is yers."

"Julie One Hand is also mine."

Logan remained poker faced even as he heard some soft shuffling from behind him. Julien was getting ready to bolt. If he did, Fury would be sure to know something was amiss, even if he couldn't see the boy himself. Logan was quick to quell the boy's fears by saying, "If we find him, you'll be the first to know."

That did the trick. Julien wasn't happy about being taken prisoner, but it seemed he would rather be taken in by the X-men then by SHIELD. He stayed put, keeping well hidden.

Fury didn't detect the lie. "Oh, he'll be found. And tried for his crimes, the same as Frost. That you can count on."

"Now that that's settled, let's get Frost and his guys out of here," Logan said and gestured behind him. "The door, if ya please."

Simone nodded, keeping silent, and conjured his door. Now that Fury had been to Twilight, he could see the door easily as it shimmered into view. It swung open, showing the parking lot where they had all gathered earlier. The big SHIELD semi trucks waited, their diesel engines rumbling softly. They held more than just a command center. Fury had anticipated he would be taking prisoners home with him and had some portable lockups brought along as well.

Fury took one step forward towards the door and then all hell broke loose. Gus freaked out at the sight of the door, kicking up a whole new fuss. "You cannot! I will die!"

"Nice try," one of Fury's men grumbled, trying to drag the man towards the door. Gus dug his feet right in, fighting with all he had not to get any closer to the door. This fight was far more vigorous that what he had offered Remy, he wasn't fooling around.

"If he goes through the door," Leroy whispered in Simone's ear. "...he will die as will I. Some of us can no longer pass between worlds."

Simone nodded and leaned to Max who could at least be seen by Fury and his men. "Leroy sez that man'll die if they brings him through the door. Leroy don't ever lie. Not ta me."

"Logan," Max then said. "I don't think that guy is fakin' it."

Wolverine nodded and took a step forward, but with three guys dragging him, Gus was just about at the door itself. They were being met by others from Dockside, their racket making it plain the door was back in place. Gus was given a heave through the door and the hand that Remy had injured was soon the least of his worries. He howled in agony as he passed all the way through and fell to the hard pavement of the parking lot beyond. His body instantly began to melt, his flesh bubbling away on his bones as though he'd been made of wax and then placed on a hot stove. He was screaming now, making sounds no human should ever have to make.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Fury bellowed in exasperation and passed through the door as if somehow the guys on the other side had caused this to happen. "What the hell!"

"What's going on?" Logan heard Jean ask from behind him and he turned to look at her. She had finally arrived, bringing the rest of the Gold Team with her, answering his earlier distress call. She was white now, struck numb at the sight of a man disintegrating into goo. There was nothing left of him.

"Might have a problem with the prisoner transfers," Logan grumbled. "That dude didn't make it."

"Sometimes justice comes in funny ways," she murmured.

Logan squinted at her. "What do you mean?"

"I couldn't scan his mind, but when I mind scanned the others, I could see he was responsible for most of the kids who died here. He was Frost's executioner."

"Are you sure?"

"Some things the mind can't hide well," she offered as an answer.

Knowing she was a telepath and always at risk for what she might pick up in passing on a mind she might scan, he didn't argue. She wasn't one for making things up.

"Well that'll save on yer prison costs!" Zander cackled with amusement, his Punisher's eyes gleaming at a bad guy getting something he felt the man deserved. He gave one of Frost's other men a less than playful shove towards the door. "This one next!"

"No way, man!" the guy complained and then there was practically a riot there. Fury was forced to come back through the door and handle it, bickering with his men. Logan took advantage of the noise, nodding at Aiden and Max. He wanted them and Kyle through that door now, along with the passengers they had picked up. Max was quick to comply and they got moving, leaving only Logan and Simone behind with Leroy.

"All of us will die if we go back through that door!" Frost shouted. It wasn't the least bit true, but he was all too eager to take advantage of Gus' demise.

"If that was true, you'd be long dead," Logan countered, not having any of it. "You've been goin' back and forth for a while now. I think Gus was a special case."

Fury stood his ground, as angry as his name. This situation was bad and only getting worse. "How do we know who can stay and who can go?"

"I can tell them," Leroy whispered into Simone's ear, his voice rough from pain. "Traveler, set me down."

"They might hurts you," Simone protested, keeping his voice low.

"Not with your brave heart to protect me. It will be all right."

Simone complied and he eased Leroy to the ground. Fury made a noise as Leroy suddenly winked into view. He had been cloaked by Simone's device until he had left the Siskan behind. Leroy was quite the picture, a tiny little goat man all battered and bruised. His eyes still held every measure of his dignity though, and he commanded attention.

"You there," Leroy said, pointing to Fury. "I can recognize a man in charge when I see one. I am from here. I can tell you who can stay and who can go."

The flattery didn't help. "And why should I trust you? I don't even know who the fuck you are. What the hell is going on, Logan?! This is a mess, even for you!"

Logan raised his hands, asking for patience. "I know, I know. Look. This guy, he's a resident. This is Leroy. Remember I told you about him? He's been helping us. I think you can take him at his word."

Fury nodded, recognizing the name from Logan's first briefing. Here was the goat man Logan had spoken to in one of the sheds. Still, he was at the end of his patience. He didn't like being screwed around. He didn't know who he could trust.

"Let me speak," Leroy interrupted. "I know you do not know who I am, but that doesn't mean I will speak falsely now. I will tell you something you may not know. This is Twilight, only one of many pocket worlds. My people have been using them for years as prisons, as places of exile. Once condemned here, we cannot return to any other full reality without being destroyed as Gus was there. As you can imagine, it was a very effective form of punishment."

"I still don't see why I should take your word for anything," Fury complained, but he was softening. It was hard not to. Leroy was a sincere person. He simply did not look as though he was lying. Maybe it was just because he was so old, but he had an air of wisdom and learning about him that was difficult to ignore.

"This is my home and I am grateful that you have come to my aid," Leroy said, his voice proud. "Frost came and took my flowers. You have come to rescue me, I will do all I can to help you in return."

"It's either that or set up a prison here. Don't think that's too practical," Logan added.

Fury crossed his arms, sick of games. It was Logan who had irritated him, not Leroy. Still, he couldn't keep the mocking tone out of his voice as he asked, "Then who of these men can go back with us?"

Leroy came closer, weak and trembly, and Logan bent to offer him an arm in assistance. Leroy took it, looking over the men the X-men had collected. "Of all of Frost's men I have seen, only two of them could not pass – Gus and one other. The other is not here."

"There are more prisoners in the town," Cyclops said, speaking up for the first time. "Your men are with them now, Fury."

"Fine," Fury grumbled. He gestured to the rest of the prisoners here at the flower field. "Send them through."

Frost tried to kick up a fuss as Gus had, hoping to con his way out of this, but he couldn't pull it off with the same realistic intensity as Gus had. He and his men were fed through the door and led off to the semi trucks with no more gooey explosions. Leroy had been as good as his word. Before long, the rest of Fury's men came with the rest of Frost's crew and they were taken over as well. The groups of kidnapped children came next, some of them fearful, but most of them happy to be going home. The rescuers' work here was nearly done.

Fury watched over all this, his tension lessening as he saw the prisoner transfers going with no more mishaps. The little goat man stayed near, never getting all that close to the door. His fear was just as plain as Gus' had been. He never did point out the second man who could not be moved, but then it was well known by now that many of Frost's people had perished in the fighting. He probably hadn't survived.

After an acceptable amount of wait time had passed, Logan made his way through the door. He had wanted to make sure Julien was secure on the Dragon 2, though he obviously didn't tell Fury that.

Fury let him go. There were still X-men on this side helping out with the children who were to be moved across next. He didn't even grumble when Remy and Zander soon followed on their own, no longer in custody. He would be sure to at least to make sure that all of his own men and himself were across before the last X-man passed through. As much as he liked it here, he had no desire to be left here by a less than humorous Logan wanting to prove a point.

It wasn't long before everyone who was able to go had crossed over and now only three remained behind at Twilight -- Rogue, Simone and Leroy. Rogue was making a show of saying the X-men's goodbyes for Fury, but it was really Simone who was doing the talking.

"I wants to stay," he protested to his Mistress quietly, hoping Fury could not hear from the other side of the door. "Just fer a little, little bit. Then I'll comes home. I promise. I wants to see that Leroy gets to his own home, safe and sound."

She wanted to hug him so badly, but couldn't be seen doing so to an invisible man. "Ah don't want you out of my sight, not after all this."

"I will not keep him, I promise," Leroy said. "As much as he cares for me, it is you he truly loves."

"Well, all right then Ah guess," she said, but she looked so sad.

"You gots ta fly home with the rest. Time's funny here. I'll be home before you," Simone assured, wanting her not to fear for him. "I'll be there, I promise."

"Well, all right then. You take care now," she said to Leroy and gave him a careful hug. She then passed through the door, leaving them behind. It was the hardest thing she had ever done. Her love for Simone was strong. Lucky for her she had nothing to fear, it was a promise Simone would keep.

..–..–..-..-..–..–..–..-..–..--

Remy was glad to return to Dockside, no matter how much it stunk. The Honey sweet air of Twilight had been heaven compared to the smell of rotten fish and idling diesel trucks. Still, he was glad to be back home. He was more than ready to leave for Arizona, but he had something that needed to be taken care of first. It was time for Zander to let Kimble return.

Remy put his hand on the Siskan's shoulder, "Time to go, Zandy."

Zander nodded and turned towards the Dragon 2, but Remy halted him. "Dat's not what I mean. Give me back m' Kimble, s'il vous plait."

Zander stood as he was, grinning wickedly now. He had anticipated this and just as Remy had feared, was in no rush to hand over the reins. "Oh, I don't think so. I just proved it today that I kin be lots more useful out here than stoopid ole Kimble."

Remy didn't budge even though he hadn't liked the insult. "Look, I appreciate you 'elpin' out and all, but you know de rules. We leave Kim out in charge when it's quiet. It's quiet now."

"Really? I begs ta differ."

"Quoi? We got bad guys at home now?" Remy teased, though his eyes were hard. "Dere ain't no one left to fight."

"There's always a fight," Zander corrected. "I sees the way folks looks at us and that shit's gonna change."

Remy chewed on that, not quite sure what Zander was getting at. "Nobody's lookin' bad at you, Zander. We all family."

Zander just snorted in arrogance. "Really? Like that preacher and his little old lady bitch wuz family?"

"Now wait just a minute – " Remy stammered, trying to regain control of this situation as it veered off into a direction he never could have foreseen. Yeah, Kimble had been upset over the baptism of the twins, but Remy hadn't considered that Zander would take up his case over it. Though it made a kind of sense if he thought about it -- Zander was the embodiment of Kimble's anger. He was Kimble's desire for revenge against anyone who had ever hurt him. Here was the anger that Kimble had suppressed from the event, here was the emotion that Remy had not chased after coming back to bite him in the ass. He should have tried harder to get Kimble to let it out. Now it was too late.

Zander's voice was harsh, his very cruelest as he said, "No, you wait! I gots every reason to stay, I got some real fixin' up to do around here. See, the next idiot that comes up to us with their bright ugly shines, callin' us a queer or a little faggot boy... see, they're gonna haves ta deal with me this time 'round, 'stead of Kimble!"

Cyclops, leader of the X-men, had been standing close by all this time, watching as Remy tried to talk Zander down. He had thought perhaps that Remy had exaggerated earlier at how difficult it was going to be to do that but now it looked as though Remy's fears had been more than justified. Scott had flinched a little when Zander used the word "faggot". It had been so cruel coming from his mouth, so malicious. So very, very dangerous.

Scott listened to all this, waiting to see what Remy was going to do about it. So far, while Zander had appeared menacing and somewhat untrustworthy as he had vented his anger, he hadn't directly threatened any innocents until now. This was serious, he could see that Zander wasn't fooling around.

Remy knew that as well. He was trying to be calm as he did his best to reason with the angry Punisher. "You can't solve Kim's problems like dat, Zandy. You'll only make dem worse."

Zander clearly disagreed. His voice became more condescending and angry as he continued to rant. "I ain't no pussy like Kimble. I ain't gonna takes none of that crap like he does. Folks round here gonna learns they cain't talks to us like that no more. Like Kimble lets them do without no fuss. He just runs away cryin'. This time, it'll be thems what runs away – covered in blood!"

Remy's own anger was rising and he was grateful that Asher had come over as well, ready to give an assist. Still, he wanted to do this on his own. He continued to try to talk Zander down. "Dis isn't de way to fix dat, Zandy. Killin' people dat don' agree wit you don't fix nuthin'. Neither does Kim's sulkin' and poutin' but we'll 'elp him wit dat. We'll find a better way. You can't solve all your problems wit violence."

Zander just chuckled his mirthless little laugh. "How's ya gonner do that? By bringin' Kimble ta yer stoopid little church? They hates him more than evraone else! They sez we're all gonner burns in Hell for bein' a buncha sissy queers! Well, I kin shows that preacher and his old lady bitch a thing 'r two about Hell with this right here!" With that Zander conjured his sword, letting it glow faintly orange, as if the thought of killing those two excited it as much as it did its Master.

"I said dat's enough, Zandy!" Remy finally snapped. He didn't like the way this was going, Zander was being much too specific about his possible targets. He was vibrating as much authority as he could muster as he continued, "I tole you dere ain't gonna be any killin' wit dat and I meant it! We don' need it or you right now so just go! Dat's an order!" Remy dared to challenge, not backing down this time.

Zander stood still there for half a moment, seeing something in Remy's shine that held his attention. He moved then, coming up close to Remy as he had before, so very rude, his grin spreading all the wider, showing his fangs. "An order is it? Well in that case, since yer the boss of me and all (snort!), I guess I'll just haves to go then. But you just remembers what I said back there on the island, cuz there's a difference 'tween listenin' and hearin', eh? I hope ya heard me good and that you'll thinks about it... real, real hard," he concluded almost suggestively. Before Remy could respond, Zander pulled him in for a hard, bruising kiss, making a show of it for the crowd.

Remy's rage spiked, enough that sparks flew from his hands as he squirmed a bit in an attempt to free himself. Zander, being both Siskan and a bit starved for power simply absorbed the release of energy as easily as a parched plant would a drop of rain. He did however, obey Remy's order and withdrew, leaving Kimble suddenly back in the fore just in time to enjoy what was left of the kiss.

Remy relaxed when he felt the change happen, as he felt the Siskan just melt there in his arms. Kimble swooned momentarily, given a taste of what he had missed for so long. Kimble was still very much in love with this human no matter how hard he might try to hide it and it showed just briefly there, just a moment, hovering on his face.

It was gone an instant later when Kimble finally realized just where he was. He jerked back suddenly in shock and surprise as if Remy would burn him. "Oh, geez! Remy! I didn't means nuthin'. I means, it was Zander who done it and all...!" he stammered lamely, his cheeks flushing with color. He was mortified. Not only was his husband just a pace or two away, but there was a crowd of people just standing there gawking over them. He felt the weight of their judgement upon him, both real and imagined, and feared lightning strikes from the sky for this great sin that he had just performed in front of them all. He was sure to be punished. "An' I don't wanna hurts nobodies, no matter what Zander says!"

"Je sais. I know, buddy. It's okay, cher," Remy said, moving away and giving Kimble space as he wiped his lips with one hand. Not too hard of course, he would be a liar if he had said he hadn't enjoyed the kiss, the last of it anyhow. He could see Kimble was on the verge of freaking out so he gave him an out. "Don' worry about it. Go on up the ship, now. We be leavin'."

"Aye, Capt'n," Kimble said and turned away, almost running as he fled, unable to get out of there fast enough.

"Wow," Scott said, being careful with his tone. "I hadn't realized just how... different.. his personalities could be."

It hadn't just been the change in voices, Scott had now realized. He could physically see the change. As Kimble had come forward the Siskan's body had seemed to shrink just a little, collapsing in on itself. Zander's posture of arrogant belligerence was gone and Kimble was now there in his place, hunched over as if in self defense, as if the very world would crash down on him. This wasn't just because of the compromising position Zander had left him in, Kimble always stood that way. Scott just hadn't realized it until he was given something to compare it to.

Remy, still upset over the day's events, was now provided with a target on which to vent. He turned and glared at Scott, eye to eye, and said with authority, "Dat's de las' time Kim goes out on a mission wit'out it bein' my idea. He's **mine**, comprenez? My **man**, from my **team,****"** Remy said with emphasis, using the word 'team' for real for the first time. Zander's words had done their magic. "I know Logan had to do you some ass kissin' for takin' de lead today of de Gold Team. I understand dat we got a rank and file. So be it. But from now on you want someone from my team, you best be doin' some ass kissin' of yo' own. You 'ear me?"

Scott did not retreat but he did raise his hands in surrender, smiling ever so slightly. It wasn't because he thought this was funny or that he wasn't taking it that seriously. It was quite the opposite, actually. Here was Gambit, the real deal, bravely sticking up for himself and taking the lead he should have taken a long time ago.

The fact was, it was about time the thief grew up and matured. Most of his contemporaries were on permanent teams or the leaders of one. They were the teachers, the ones setting examples, and in this Scott had long felt Remy was well behind the curve. It was nice to see him finally stepping up and taking the role he should have had long ago.

The X-men had suffered serious losses after the Game and these past months it was more important than ever that the most experienced of their members were needed to pass on their wisdom to the next generation, the ones who would lead after the elders were gone. Now more than ever, Remy's skills were needed.

Scott said none of this of course, he simply apologized and said, "You were right about Kimble and I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Remy squinted at him, looking for deceit. Finding none he said, "Merci," and turned away heading to the ship.

Cyclops grabbed his arm, just briefly. "You can control him, though, right? Zander? He threatened someone."

Remy nodded and answered as truthfully as he could, "Oui, I t'ink so. I got lots of help so don' worry about it. Besides, Zandy only come out when 'e threatened and Kim don' go anywhere near dose people. Kim is stronger dan 'e is, only Zander don't know it. But I do."

"All right, then," Scott replied, satisfied, and let him go.

The thief turned away and got moving. He was exhausted now, wrung out, and in serious need of a cigarette or a stiff drink, which ever he could find first. His emotional shields had held up for him, he had passed his first big test without wigging out, but he was ready to be done.

"Hey, Remy!"

The exhausted thief turned and saw Iceman coming up to him. "Oui?"

"Your man forgot this," Iceman said, handing him a battered leather jacket. It was Kimble's, left behind by Zander after the explosion. Remy, in all the excitement, had forgotten to pick it up.

"Merci," he said, but Bobby was already moving on, everyone else was getting to leave, too. The SHIELD trucks were already driving away with their load of prisoners. All that was left to do was to move the kids that wanted to go with the X-men onto the Lucky Dragon for transport.

Remy went back to walking to his much smaller ship, but as he passed by Aiden he heard the Siskan say softly to him so no one else could hear, "Don' know what Zandair szay to you, but whatever it wasz, I am grateful for it."

Remy appreciated the support but he was just too tired to comment on it. He was happy at least to see that if Aiden had been jealous about the kiss, he was hiding it well. "You go on up, too. See if Kimble need you. Give him back 'is jacket, s'il vous plait."

"Aye, Captain," Aiden said, smiling now, and left.

Remy's eyes followed Aiden as he went up the ramp. Kimble was standing just inside the ship's doorway, looking back at Remy with the strangest expression on his face. Unlike most human multiple personalities, all of Kimble's selves that were awake were aware enough to know what was going on and happening to the dominant personality, like watching a movie happening to someone else. Nothing was hidden from them. He still had two that slumbered deeply, one of which was best left that way -- the murderous and suicidal Lakotashay. She hadn't reared her head in years and Remy had worked hard to keep it that way. The way Kimble was looking at him now, it was eerily creepy. It seemed impossible that he should have heard what Remy had said to Scott, but his face showed otherwise. It was Kimble at the helm, but Zander who was nodding his approval ever so slightly.

Remy just sighed, weary now, and made for the ramp himself, just wanting to go home. Unfortunately for him, fate had other plans. Logan now stood in his path, having come down the ramp from the ship, an expression of enraged amusement on his face. He clapped his hands without an ounce of humor. "That was quite a show, Cajun."

"Glad I could amuse. Now, move. Time to go," Remy said gruffly, not wanting to dignify Logan's cruel remark by dwelling on it.

"Oh, the day's fun just got started. Wait until you see what I got for you." Logan then turned and then went up the ramp, looking back to see if Remy would follow.

The thief hadn't moved. Remy was tired yes, but not so overwrought to miss the colors racing through Wolverine's shine. Logan wasn't merely mad, he was furious and doing his best to control it. Mad at him and for reasons he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Remy quickly sifted through the events of that morning, trying to see what mistakes he might have made that he would now have to make excuses for. He came up with nothing and that's what scared him most of all. He'd been blindsided so many times lately, he really didn't want to know.

"Come on, boy," Wolverine growled, belittling him on purpose. "Let's get this over with."

Remy sighed and obeyed, his stomach sinking with each step. Of all the possible things that he could imagine that might have set Logan's heart so bitterly against him, nothing prepared him for what he saw next. Up the ramp and safely hidden inside Remy's ship, sat Logan's surprise, all bundled up with rope and just enough duct tape across his mouth to keep him quiet.

Remy looked into the face of Little Julie One Hand and felt the bottom of his stomach fall right out, the color draining from his face. "Dis some kind of joke?" he asked no one in particular, his mouth so dry he could hardly do more than whisper.

"You tell me, Cajun," Logan tossed back, though with less conviction than his earlier snotty words. He had been angry because he had thought Remy had been holding out on him. He was less and less sure about that now, judging by the stricken expression on the thief's face.

Remy reached out and gently took the boy's chin all the better to look at him. Except for the reddish blonde hair and gaunt little cheeks, this boy was a carbon copy of himself at sixteen, right down to the red on black eyes that now stared back at him with so much wondering... and so much hate and fear.

"Mon Dieu," Remy gasped, barely able to breathe. "I always knew you 'ad a sense of humor, but dis? Lord, have mercy on my soul."

To be continued in Secret Hearts.

..--..--..--..--..--..--..--

Author's notes -- Now that wasn't much of a surprise now was it? I am not that skilled when it comes to the big plot twist, lol.

I don't know for sure when I will get that next book up and running, it will probably be the same amount of time in between as this last one. The reason these things take so much time is my work status, but also because while I have Secret Hearts outlined, it is only about 40 percent written at the moment, with no art at all. I do hope you guys will stick with me just the same. Just think, if you were buying this as a monthly comic, the wait would be that much longer, lol.

Thanks again to those who reviewed and I hope to see you all soon. :)

– Squeekness


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